The Casina delle Civette [House of the Owls] is in the Villa Torlonia Park in Rome.
The Capanna Svizzera [Swiss cabin] was the first dwelling house of the complex, designed in 1840 by Giuseppe Jappelli at the behest of Prince Alessandro Torlonia, with two buildings in a rural style, the main house and the annexe. Positioned at the edge of the park, they represented a sort of place of refuge from the main villa.
At the wishes of the grandson of Alessandro Torlonia, Giovanni the younger, who lived there until his death in 1938, the rustic construction was gradually turned into an elegant little villa by the architect Enrico Gennari in a medieval rustic style, starting in 1908. In 1917, the architect Vincenzo Fasolo added the structures on the south side and enhanced the house with Art Nouveau [Liberty] decorations, giving it its definitive, distinctive appearance. The roof surfaces were mantled by thin grey slate tiles, which contrasted with the vivid colours of the tiles in glazed terracotta.
The interior of the house is richly furnished and filled with statues, wrought iron and refined stucco work, but the pièce de résistance is the stained glass windows in Liberty style, produced in the workshop of master glazier Cesare Picchiarini to the designs of Duilio Cambellotti, Umberto Bottazzi, Vittorio Grassi and Paolo Paschetto between 1908 and 1930. The house got its name on account of the stained glass window featuring owls designed by Cambellotti in 1914 and the frequent use of owl motifs in the interior furnishings.
In 1944, the decline of the House of the Owls set in, when all the buildings in the Villa Torlonia complex were occupied by allied troops for three years. The Casino Nobile of Villa Torlonia was the private residence of Mussolini.
In 1978 it was acquired by the City council of Rome. In 1991, a fire badly damaged it and it was restored between 1992 and 1997.