the villa
The estate is surrounded by a beautiful garden, and contains the three-story main building with a panoramic terrace, an outbuilding that overlooks on the ancient Roman road “Via Appia”, and an antique greenhouse. The design was entrusted by Volterra and his wife Virginia Almagià to the Architect Giulio Magni, who built it between 1904 and 1907.
The family has continuously maintained the property and the restoration of the buildings has adhered strictly to the original design. In 2016 the complex was declared a site of cultural interest by the government for the following reasons:
The house is historically important since it is evidence of the modus vivendi of the Roman bourgeoisie, who identified, in the immediate surroundings of Rome, places to build summer residences, creating true neighborhoods of villas. It presents an architectural apparatus of undoubted quality, due to one of the most famous and respected architects at the beginning of the 1900s, Giulio Magni. It presents gorgeous pictorial decorations particular to that period. It boasts a garden full of many botanical varieties and adorned with 150 archaeological artifacts. Thanks to its owner’s position in society, it has served as a meeting place for the international scientific community could exchange experiences, becoming the most prestigious house in Ariccia after the nearby Palazzo Chigi.
It is also possible to view the suggestive gallery of images that the photographer and writer Diane Farris shot during her repeated stays and visits to the estate. Her exhibition “In the light of the present” was inaugurated in September 2018, and remained on display for several months on the roof terrace of Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia.