The story of the supposedly most expensive villa in Rome begins at the end of the 16th century: Cardinal Francesco Maria Bourbon del Monte has a country house built on the highest point in the city. In the first few years of the house he begins to build an impressive art collection. The result is a ceiling painting by the infamous Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.
In 1621, the 26-year-old new cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi purchased the del Monte house. He also works as a patron of art and culture. The villa’s exhibition is growing. Artists, poets and thinkers like Goethe begin to make pilgrimages to Villa Aurora and search for inspiration for their own work in the legendary property.
The evil heirs, first part
After the cardinal’s death, the history of the villa takes its first turn. His heirs sell parts of the art collection, but expand the land, so that at their wedding the Villa Ludovisi property extends over a huge area – from the current location to Piazza Fiume, 1.2 kilometers away.
At the end of the 19th century, the former villa was destroyed due to political and financial circumstances. Today, only the Casino dell’Aurora di Villa Ludovisi Boncompagni, also known as Villa Aurora, remains. The comparatively small villa, but still a building in a prime location with just over 2000 square meters of living space, is writing its own drama.
In 2018, an inheritance dispute broke out within the family, which led to the villa being foreclosed on. After the death of the owner Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi, half of the house was inherited by his wife and half by his three sons. This leads to a dispute because the property was already seized and no one had enough money to pay off the debt.
Due to the many works of art, the price for a forced sale was originally estimated at around 470 million euros. Nobody took action, although there were a total of five attempts, some with huge discounts, to finally sell the property.
The evil heirs, part two
The Texas Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, wife of the late prince, lived in the villa until 2023. In April, the property was cleared by police and the princess moved to a friend’s villa – near Rome, after all.
Officially it is said that the sons from her first marriage are of the opinion that Rita did not maintain the house properly and earned unauthorized additional income by giving tours through the house. In fact, for a while it was possible to take a look inside the villa for around 20 euros per person. A judge upheld the descendants’ lawsuit.
However, nothing has come of the record price so far. The last known auction price was 145 million euros, but no one was found here either. Ignace Meuwissen, an expert specializing in particularly expensive real estate, was supposed to sell the house later. According to his own statements, he even found a buyer who offered 100 million, but was rejected by the seller.
He confirmed in an interview with starthat the house is still looking for a new owner. As far as the price is concerned, he assumes that the heirs and the princess would now even agree to 60 million euros. “The house is now empty and waiting for an offer. But that doesn’t exist at the moment because the owners are dreaming of too large a sum,” he explained when asked.
Various media reports say that the princess has even turned to the Italian government. Apparently, they are working on getting the government to take over the house so that the valuable art can be preserved. Looking at the condition of the house, the simplest idea would actually be to turn it into a museum.