17 Dec 2017

Villa Rosebery, the presidential residence overlooking the sea

Our city is home to several architectural wonders; one of these is surely the majestic Villa Rosebery.

His story has been a very troubled story but above all full of changes that over time have led this villa to see its maximum splendor, hosting famous people but also to live sometimes in a state of abandonment, up to the present day, becoming now officially the presidential residence. But let’s see together the most important steps of this truly gripping past.

Historical curiosities

What we know as Villa Rosebery, is a villa built in the highest area of ”‹”‹Capo Posillipo by the Austrian officer Giuseppe De Thurn, navy brigadier for the Bourbon fleet from 1801.

He built a small residence with a private chapel and a garden with large vineyards and orchards. In 1820, due to some personal vicissitudes, Giuseppe Thurn decided to sell the villa. To purchase the property was the princess of Gerace and her son Don Agostino Serra di Terranova in March of the same year. The two began to transform this dwelling mainly agricultural into a residential villa in all respects. The villa, whose renovations were entrusted to the two architects Gasse, began to completely change its face, from a simple rural residence it became an elegant and sophisticated residence which was given the name of “Villa Serra marina”.

In 1857, with the death of Don Agostino Serra di Terranova, his heirs sold the property to Luigi di Borbone, commander of the Neapolitan Navy and the villa acquired a new identity once again, it was in fact dubbed “the Brazilian” in honor of his wife Luigi, sister of the emperor of Brazil. The new owner decided to turn the land adjacent to the estate, in a large wooded park also equipped with a marina.

If until now the villa had managed to accommodate the high society of the Neapolitan society, in 1897 things changed radically. In fact, this house will know its most intellectual period, with the arrival of Lord Rosebery (hence the name of the villa) that will transform it into a private and secluded place, open to a few scholars and good English friends.

But the changes do not end there. In fact, Lord Rosebery himself, donated his villa to the British government from the early 1900s to accommodate British ambassadors and politicians during their travels.

England, however, decided after some time to return the property to the Italian State free of charge and Villa Rosebery was put at the disposal of the royal family for summer stays. But after the Second World War and with the advent of the republic it involved the exile of the royal family the villa remained empty and for the first time in its history in a strong state of abandonment.

But the magnificence of Villa Rosebery could not go unnoticed. In fact, thanks to a law of 1957, it was included among the real estate supplied to the Presidency of the Republic, becoming from this moment on, the summer residence of the President of the Italian Republic.