The Simonetti House is an outwardly modest, two-storey timber-framed house with a high hipped roof that was built in 1699, complete with laboratory, as the noble estate of the royal governor and alchemist, Baron of Meder. Inside, the interior design proves itself remarkably spacious and sophisticated. The main attraction is the highly elaborate and amazingly well-preserved Baroque stucco ceilings, whereby the three ceilings in the rooms facing the street feature expressive stucco relief scenes from Greek mythology that are probably unique in all of Germany.
Research and comparison have proven that the reliefs are the work of the master builder and plasterer Giovanni Simonetti (1652-1716) and his workshop.
The refurbishment of the plaster stucco ceiling was completed in 2015. The renovation measures were financed by Lotto Saxony-Anhalt, the Deutschen Stiftung Denkmalschutz ["German Foundation for the Preservation of Monuments"], and the town of Coswig. The façade and house interior are not yet completed. The "project and guest house" of the association, a Wilhelminian villa with a neo-Baroque stucco façade located on a neighboring piece of land, is nearing completion.
On the property there is also a historic hall from the Grunderzeit (literally, "the Founders Epoch") with a freestanding cantilever roof. The hall, built in 1888, has been used in the past as a garden restaurant and dance hall, among other things. Here, too, structural repairs and restoration work has already been started. At present, the hall, the adjoining rooms, and the courtyard are used for modest exhibitions and presentations, as well as participatory courses on traditional handicrafts.
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