Villa Etelinda

Villa Etelinda  was the private residence of Queen Margherita of Savoy (1851-1926), a devoted guest of Bordighera. She first came to town in 1879; she disembarked at the Cap Hotel, then was the guest of Rafael Bischoffsheim, a very wealthy German banker.

Villa Bischoffsheim, where the host would receive, among many illustrious friends, the French chemist Louis Pasteur, would later be inhabited by an English family that renamed it Etelinda; it would later be purchased by Queen Margaret herself.

In 1914, the sovereign decided to build, in a slightly elevated position, a new and larger dwelling - Villa Margherita indeed - designed in neo-Baroque style by architect Luigi Broggi, inaugurated on February 25, 1916, the queen's official residence during the winter season.