The Casina Delle Civette In Rome, Italy Editorial Image

The house of the owls exceptional example of Roman Liberty style today Museum of Villa Torlonia, Rome, Italy. 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. Today the complex consists of two buildings, the principle house and the annex, connected by a small wooden gallery and an underground passage. From 1916 the building began to be known as the “House of the Owls”, perhaps because of the stained glass depicting two stylized owls among ivy shoots, created by Duilio Cambellotti in 1914, or because the motif of the owl is used almost obsessively in the decorations and furnishings of the House, at the wish of Prince Giovanni, a mysterious man who loved esoteric symbols.