The House of the Owls in Rome was designed in 1840 by Giuseppe Jappelli commissioned by Prince Alessandro Torlonia. It originally appeared as a rustic structure with exterior finishes of tuff bossage and an interior painted in tempera to imitate rocks and wooden planks. The two buildings that make up the architectural complex today—the main villa and the annex—connected by a small wooden gallery and an underground passageway, bear little resemblance to the romantic alpine-style refuge conceived by Jappelli in the nineteenth century, except for the masonry structures of the two main buildings arranged in an “L” shape, the deliberately rustic style, the use of various exposed construction materials, and the sloping roofs.
In fact, starting in 1908, the Swiss Hut began to undergo a progressive and radical transformation under the direction of Alessandro’s nephew, Giovanni Torlonia Jr., taking on the appearance and name of “Medieval Village”; the work was led by architect Enrico Gennari, and the small building became a refined residence with large windows, loggias, porticos, turrets, decorated with majolica tiles and stained glass.
From 1916, the building started being named “House of the Owls” due to the presence of a stained glass window depicting two stylized owls among ivy branches, created by Duilio Cambellotti in 1914, and because the owl theme was obsessively repeated in decorations and furnishings, as desired by Prince Giovanni, a gruff man and lover of esoteric symbols.
In 1917, architect Vincenzo Fasolo added the southern front structures of the House, elaborating an imaginative decorative scheme in the Art Nouveau style.
Fasolo’s influence can be seen in the choice of volumes that cluster and intersect, taking shape in a wide variety of materials and decorative details. The unifying element of the many architectural solutions is the gray tone of the roof finish, made with thinly shaped slate slabs contrasted with the lively colors of the glazed terracotta tiles.
The interior spaces, arranged over two levels, are all carefully finished; pictorial decorations, stuccos, mosaics, polychrome majolica, inlaid woods, wrought iron, wall fabrics, marble sculptures all show the prince’s particular attention to comfortable living.
Among the many decorations, the presence of stained glass windows is so prevalent that it constitutes the building’s distinctive hallmark: all the stained glass was installed between 1908 and 1930, making it a unique feature in the international artistic panorama, produced entirely by Cesare Picchiarini’s workshop based on designs by Duilio Cambellotti, Umberto Bottazzi, Vittorio Grassi, and Paolo Paschetto.
The destruction of the building began in 1944, with the occupation by Anglo-American troops, which lasted over three years.
When, in 1978, the Municipality of Rome acquired the Villa, both the buildings and the park were in disastrous condition.
The fire of 1991 worsened the degradation of the House, along with thefts and vandalism. The current image of the House of the Owls is the result of a long, patient, and meticulous restoration carried out from 1992 to 1997, which, using what was still preserved and numerous documentary sources, allowed for returning to the city one of the most singular and interesting constructions from the early twentieth century.
