Joaquín Carvallo was a Spanish doctor and medical researcher born in Don Benito, who acquired and restored Château de Villandry and the creator of its spectacular gardens, recovering the French soul of the construction from 1536.
Joaquín Carvallo studied in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and became a brilliant doctor. He travelled to Paris to work in the team of Dr Charles Richet, who was honored with the Physician Nobel Prize in 1913. While working with Richet's medical research team he met by chance an intern from Lebanon, Pennsylvania called Ann Coleman, who inherited an important business. She felt in love with the Spanish doctor while discussing the war that the US was launching against Spain to conquer Cuba. The couple left Paris and found a peaceful place to live with their eldest daughter, Isabelle and their three younger sons, where they built a splendid Spanish art collection from the 17th century, that Carvallo and Coleman. It can be admired today on the walls of the castle.