The Scippas’ summer house
In Puglia, when the countryside began to shake off its image of being a wild, uninhabitable place, something changed in the aristocracy’s way of life. The most influential families began to retire to their summer residences, far from the heat of the town. The Italian Belle Époque had sparked a desire for high society and elegance: balls, salons, the carefree life of the Bourgeoisie and even the refined elegance of the Liberty style made its way to the countryside. In about 1910, the Scippa family decided to build a country residence. They chose a small hill which overlooked a sea of olive groves, pinewoods and golden fields. A tree-lined drive led up to the elegant three-storey building, as if to protect the tranquillity of the surrounding countryside. The raised ground floor housed the owners’ apartments: the architraves and jambs of the windows are decorated with Liberty motifs, while the main door is adorned with floral decorations. Some rooms have cloister vaults decorated in tempera.
Next to the house is a small chapel dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary), a place of prayer and reflection. Walking along the corridors of the villa, it is easy to imagine what life was like in its heyday: spacious reception rooms, shining floors and silk curtains, men in evening dress discussing politics and art, graceful women in long satin dresses engaged in conversation and laughter. The rooms would be filled by the melodies of a piano and from the large terrace the panorama of the countryside would appear as a painting. Every detail, from the Liberty decorations to the silver candles on the tables would have been an integral part of a season of beauty and high society, a carefree time which was destined to end with the outbreak of war. Villa Scippa remains a symbol of an era in which aristocratic life edged towards modernity, with lavish parties, art, culture and the solemn tranquillity of the countryside.