The Casino Nobile is the main building in the grounds of Villa Carpegna. Originally erected in the 17th century, it has undergone various transformations over the years.It was built as a country dwelling and place for receiving guests for Cardinal Gaspare di Carpegna, Vicar of Rome from 1671 to 1714 and an important art collector. The design was entrusted to Giovanni Antonio De Rossi, a Roman late baroque architect. The building consists of a rectangular central body flanked by two symmetrical wings and extends over three floors, covering a total surface area of around 800 m2. The frescoes by Francesco Garoli, which decorate the gallery on the first floor, are contemporary to the construction of the villa and depict the Carpegna estates in Montefeltro, framed by balustrades and columns in a composition that reflects neo-Renaissance tastes. The first renovation work on the complex dates back to the second half of the 19th century, with the decoration of three rooms on the ground floor. The most interesting of these is undoubtedly the so-called ‘Pompeii room’, inspired by the Roman paintings uncovered at the end of the 18th century in Pompeii and Herculaneum. In the early 20th century, the villa was purchased by the Dutch baroness Caterina von Scheyns, a well-educated and unconventional noblewoman, who lived there until her death in 1937, making substantial changes to it. Externally the facades were painted red and decorated with white floral motifs in the Art Nouveau style. The entrance hall was fitted with a mosaic floor and decorated with images of plants painted in tempera. Under the ownership of von Scheyns, the villa became an international salon open to figures such as Guglielmo Marconi and Monsignore Roncalli, who went on to become Pope John XXIII.

Documented in the Gregorian Cadastre of 1818, the first nucleus of the Casale is described as a house “for dining purposes”, very probably with a portico.Subsequently, in the early 20th century, baroness von Scheyns, the owner of the villa, added an additional structure and external motifs with geometric motifs to echo the Art Nouveau style of the Casino Nobile. The Casale became a real extension of the villa, fondly recalled by monsignor Roncalli as a place where he loved to perform his “spiritual exercises”. Today, the Casale houses the Quadriennale’s Library Archive. This two-storey building covers a total area of 300 m2. On the ground floor, the main room, divided into three aisles with a cross-vaulted ceiling, is used for the consultation of documents, with computer stations that provide access to the search tools (databases) and multimedia documentation services.