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House of the Orsini in Toffia: the Smallest Residence of the Family That Contested the Village
The Casa degli Orsini in Toffia, a medieval village of the Sabina (RI), is located in Via di Castel di Dentro number 2. It is the smallest of the three properties the Roman family owned in the village. It dates to the 14th century, and is wedged into the upper part of the town — the part conquered by the Orsini in their long dispute with the Colonna. It shares an internal cloister with the adjoining Oratorio delle Santissime Stimmate (Oratory of the Most Holy Stigmata).
The Orsini Rose Above the Door
The entrance opens onto a small square. Above the straight arch is the family coat of arms: the Orsini rose, framed by two brick arches supported on stone corbels. The coat of arms reappears inside, carved on a travertine lintel above the door of the small loggia overlooking the internal garden. This time it shows two branches of small roses in two fields divided by a ribbon — the most complete heraldic version of the family.
Windows with Seating
The most curious feature are the windows at the rear: rectangular, framed in travertine and divided by a cross, with built-in stone seats of the period inside. These were integrated bays where one would sit to read or look outside — a domestic detail from the 14th century that has survived intact. In the basement a stone olive mill has been preserved.
Three Houses, One Family
The Orsini had two other residences in Toffia: the 15th-century Palazzo Orsini, today the town hall, and a second building in Via Montecavallo nr. 10, from the late 16th century, with a rusticated portal and three small oval windows beneath the roof. In the latter residence the coffered ceiling of the piano nobile was destroyed during the Nazi occupation.
