Villa Walpole, Villa in Naples, Italy

Villa Walpole is a historic villa on Via Ponti Rossi in Naples, enclosed by a crenellated wall with a small tower. The building has been renovated and now serves as a retirement home, while the large garden retains its original layout and tall trees.

After the Restoration, Cardinal Firrao built a farmhouse with a large estate granted to him by Giuseppe Bonaparte. The property passed to the Marulli d'Ascoli family, who laid out an English garden. Ernesto Del Balzo renamed it Villa Walpole after his late wife, Lady Dorothy Walpole, daughter of Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, then donated it to the Order of Malta for charitable use. Until 1970 it housed the Istituto Ortofrenico Michele Sciutti, and it was protected under law 1089 of 1939.

The name honours Lady Dorothy Walpole, daughter of Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, chosen by Ernesto Del Balzo for his late wife. The Marulli d'Ascoli family laid out the English-style garden, which keeps its original layout and tall trees. From the street, look for the crenellated boundary wall with its small tower.

Villa Walpole stands on Via Ponti Rossi, in the Ponti Rossi area north of Naples' centre, not in Capodimonte. The grounds keep their original layout and tall trees, and the crenellated boundary wall with its small tower is visible from the street. The building is now a retirement home run by the Dominicans, so the interior is not open to casual visitors.

The crenellated boundary wall with its small tower survives from the historic complex, and the garden keeps its original layout planted with tall trees. The villa stands on Via Ponti Rossi, not in Capodimonte, and since the Dominicans restored it, it has served as a retirement home for the elderly.