On the hillside of Genoa’s Castelletto district, Mackenzie Castle rises above a city better known for its port, narrow lanes and Renaissance palaces. Its crenellated towers and stonework suggest a medieval fortress, but the building belongs to the turn of the twentieth century. The Genoa municipality describes it as an early work by architect Gino Coppedè, created for Evan Mackenzie, an insurance magnate who wanted a conspicuous home.
The project dates and opening date are not always given the same way. A municipal account identifies Coppedè’s work as 1897–1902, while a University of Genoa record says the building was inaugurated in 1912; other local documentation places the wider construction period from 1893 to 1905. These dates likely describe different stages, but the public sources do not reconcile them fully. The safest summary is that design and construction unfolded across the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
