Villino Hüffer

The Villino Hüffer is a significant example of a prestigious late 19th century mansion. It was designed by French architect Jules A.F.A. Pellechet and built between 1880 and 1883 for the wealthy German businessman Wilhelm Hüffer. Highly praised by Gabriele D'Annunzio for the elegance and comfort of its rooms, the building has been restored in recent years.

Since 2001, it has been owned by the Bank of Italy, which has made it the seat of its historical archives.

In 1870, at the start of the Franco-Prussian War, Hüffer decided to wind up his business and move to Rome. At first, he settled in the Palazzo Borghese, easily becoming part of Rome's high society, which gave him the title of Baron. In 1879, the entrepreneur bought a plot of land along the new Via Nazionale, and soon afterwards built his own residence, where he moved in 1883. His intervention was not limited to the construction of the small villa, but he also contributed to the development of adjacent areas, in particular the Quirinal gardens.

The building, rectangular in shape, has three floors in elegant and sober Renaissance style. The main entrance is on the side façade facing the (once much larger) garden, which is accessed through an iron gate bearing the initials WH. This entrance is protected by a beautiful iron and glass canopy, made in France by the Maison André, the same company that built the gate.
As soon as one enters the building, one finds oneself in a large atrium characterised by the two-tone marble, the Tuscan architrave columns and the magnificent bas-reliefs.
In general, the palace has succeeded in preserving the original structure and decoration, which is decidedly a mixture of styles.

A double-height staircase, lit from above by a large iron and glass skylight, leads to the main floor. Here, the reception rooms are distributed around the centrepiece of the villa, the ballroom, where the Hüffers used to organise memorable receptions.

The walls of the ballroom are adorned with paintings by Annibale Brugnoli, one of the most respected painters of the time from Perugia, who became famous for his mythological and musical subjects. The same artist is responsible for the tempera oval with the allegory of Flora, in the centre of the richly decorated stucco ceiling. Finally, the other adjoining rooms (billiard room, dining room, Costanza's sitting room, fumoir and bathroom) retain their original decorations and carved ceilings, with a combination of different ornamental motifs, inspired both by classical and Renaissance traditions and by the Art Nouveau repertoire.