Palazzo Brancaccio was the last noble residence to be built in Rome. The project began in 1879 by will of New York’s high-society lady Mary Elizabeth Bradhurst Field, after her daughter Elizabeth married prince Salvatore Brancaccio (bringing him one million dollars in dowry). Construction was directed by architect Gaetano Koch at first, then by Luca Carimini, and finally by Rodolfo Buti and Carlo Sacconi, who completed the project in 1922.

Work extended over the years as the plan became grander and grander, with the building reaching Via Merulana, towards San Giovanni in Laterano, and annexing more and more of the family’s property. Legend has it that the famous Tower of Maecenas – from which Emperor Nero had watched Rome burn down, two thousand years earlier – was incorporated into the Palazzo.