Though mentioned and described in the inventories relating to the Arese Borromeo manison and kept in the family archive in Isola Bella, the Stables would still need historical studies that can completely correlate its architectonic forms with the more intricate process of the extension and transformation of the entire noble villa of Cesano Maderno. If the building fully acquired its noble 18th century characteristic of having well distinct areas, it likewise cannot be said that before the works commissioned by Renato III Arese Borromeo it was devoid of a logical study and rational arrangement of the rooms that were instead, equipped with pre-passage areas.
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The stables belong to the first construction phase of the Cesano complex and are inserted in the south-east area of the mansion, assuming the role of a strategic-functional hub for the management of the activities connected to the departures from and access to the residence. On the “portico to the stables,” in fact, stood: the “first stables,” which in the 18th century also hosted the farmer’s horse; the “vaulted stables,” that, in 1762 were described as a “newly restored” venue; the saddlery, with relative room for the coachman; the storage area for the carriages; some other service rooms, including passages for the noble court and the adjacent private park. Through precise, functional paths, to be used only by specific categories of employees of the villa, the servants could easily move to the various areas of the complex or leave the Arese-Borromeo residence without being seen by the guests.
Drawn from typical monastic-noble models of the past centuries that strongly influenced also the most modest rural homes, the Cesanese stables present a charming architectural structure incorporated in the adjacent east wing, acting as a static support for the upper halls. The internal layout of floors present different heights finalised in the creation of specific service areas that communicated with the southern courtyards, and where the horses could be fed from above through a specific itinerary, traces of which can still be seen.
The square cross-vaults, the robust columns in granite and the metallic and wooden elements for the grooming of the horses, are thus the rare testimonials of an architectural structure that remained almost integral, and which for centuries served its function of flanking the activities of those living in the 17th- 18th century villas, correlated to the affirmation of the Cesane residences as tenets of the economic-political power of the Arese and Borromeo families.
After a long period of abandonment, the stables underwent an extensive renovation finalised in the re-usage, and full recovery of horses. The works involved the Hall of columns, the store rooms adjacent to the service courtyard.
