The Casina delle Civette

The Casina delle Civette (House of the Owls), which was the residence of Prince Giovanni Torlania the younger until his death in 1938, is the result of a series of transformations and additions to the nineteenth century “Swiss Cabin”, which, positioned at the edge of the park and hidden by an artificial hillock, was originally intended as a refuge from the formality of the main residence.

It was designed in 1840 by Giuseppe Jappelli, as a commission for Prince Alessandro Torlonia, using a deliberately fabricated rusticity. The outside of the house was faced with blocks of tufo, while the inside was painted in tempera in imitation of masonry and wooden planking.