La Casina delle Civette, Rome

La Casina delle Civette is a former Torlonia residence, now a museum devoted to stained glass. Its name comes from the owl motif that appears throughout the house, in windows and decoration. The building began in 1840 as a rustic retreat designed by Giuseppe Jappelli for Prince Alessandro Torlonia.

In 1908, Enrico Gennari reshaped it with porches, turrets and new windows, giving it the air of a medieval village. The change from retreat to elaborate villa continued in 1917, when Vincenzo Fasolo extended the southern part and added an Art Nouveau finish, including enamelled roof tiles. Look at the windows set into the house: from 1908 to 1930, Cesare Picchiarini’s glass workshop produced a long series of them from designs by several artists.

Birds, butterflies, swans and climbing plants fill this luminous decoration. The defining image arrived in 1914, when Duilio Cambellotti designed a window showing two stylised owls among ivy; by 1916, the house officially carried its owl-inspired name. The story then turns harsh: wartime occupation caused severe damage, a fire in 1991 worsened it, and restoration from 1992 to 1997 brought the house to its present appearance. The museum preserves that remarkable passage from rustic hut to glass-filled fantasy.