THE VILLA

Built in the first half of the 1800s, Villa Simeom boasts over seven hectares of parkland and six hundred square meters of original rooms, now dedicated to promoting cultural events, weddings, concerts, corporate events, and private parties.

Villa Simeom features ample on-site parking, is available year-round, and offers the opportunity to organize both summer and winter events, accommodating approximately 140 people indoors and over 300 outdoors.

Home to generations of the Simeom Family, it served as the repository for the most important testimonies of subalpine history, housed in the eponymous collection. This collection was born from the passion and patient dedication of collector Silvio Simeom and is now preserved and accessible at the historical archive of the Municipality of Turin.

Today, Villa Simeom appears as a magical place where time seems to stand still, thanks to the authenticity of its furnishings, frescoes, paintings, and every detail that characterizes its interior.

THE ORIGINS

Villa Simeom maintains its original name found on ancient military maps, dating back to the first half of the 1800s. The name traces back to the Simeom family, an important lineage established in Chieri and its surroundings since the thirteenth century.

Numerous were the notable members of the family; however, it was the most recent ones chronologically who distinguished themselves more prominently by cultivating distinct political and cultural interests. Alessandro Simeom, son of Giovanni Antonio, served as mayor of Andezeno in 1890-91. He had four children, among whom two stood out, Silvio and Giacinto.

Silvio Simeom (1884-1948), mayor of the Municipality of Andezeno from 1946 to 1948, was a passionate collector of artworks, books, and documents, found and acquired through his friendship with the Turin bibliophile Vincenzo Armando (1858-1928). The latter, librarian to the Duke of Genoa and later to the library of the Academy of Sciences of Turin, amassed hundreds of documents and books, which, upon his death, his sister Candida handed over to Silvio Simeom. This collection, of undeniable historical-documentary value, was thus renamed the “Armando-Simeom Turin Collection” and safeguarded and enriched for years within the Villa.

Giacinto Simeom (1882-1970) managed the family’s properties, including Villa Simeom. Upon his death, his brother’s collection, inherited by Enrico De la Forest de Divonne, was sold to the Municipality of Turin in 1972, under the auspices of Mayor Diego Novelli, who recognized its cultural significance. The exceptionally fine collection is preserved in the municipal historical archive, duly inventoried by archivists Rosanna Roccia and Giuseppe Bocchino.

Villa Simeom was built by Alessandro Simeom in 1830; the master builder Oggenda executed, with some modifications, the design of an unknown Piedmontese architect.