Overview
The villa was made at the end of the 19th century, built on a pre-existing building of the 16th-17th century, by the Croce family. The building has preserved the walled structure and is located in what was the suburban area, which became in 1897 "Circonvallazione a mare", the coastal road that connects the centre of the city of Levante to its suburbs. The residential subdivision of the area surrounding the villa, exploits a new model of the 19th-century residential house, influencing the style of the villa by the treatment of the elevations resolved with ashlar plinth and elevation rhythmised by the marcadavanzale and marcapiano cornices and the tympanums around the holes. In 1951, the villa and the garden were donated by the family to the Municipality of Genoa, with the intention of using them as a museum and public park. In fact, since 1985, after a restoration aimed at philologically restoring the original premises through the elimination of inconsistent characteristics, the building has become the seat of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Restoration work involved repairing the parts damaged during World War II, as well as restoring the 19th century frescoes in eclectic style and the still existing furnishings. On the other hand, it was not possible to restore the authentic pastel-coloured pictorial surface of the elevations: therefore, a white monochrome colour was chosen within the two upper floors with few decorations.
