Drouo'st house in Poggio - Island of Elba

Drouot's house is a museum-house that dates back to the XVIII century and is in the town of Poggio. The name comes from Count Antoine Drouot, voted governor of the Island of Elba by Napoleon Bonaparte who stayed in this house in August 1814.

The interior walls have been decorated using elegant paintings typical of the eighteenth century in Elba; in some areas you can see large mirrors, painted in pink and blue, in others flowered drawings in an Imperial architectural style. There is a very interesting "boat shaped" bed that belonged to Charles Van Caenegem, a French soldier in the 2nd Légion de Gendarmerie of Sainte Gauburge.

This house is famous also because it is romantically described in the novel "N" by Ernesto Ferrero that was written within the very walls of this house and was awarded the Strega literary prize in 2000.

«The house is on one floor, is very basic and faces north west towards Marciana; it looks on to the chestnut woods that provide shade over the dewlap of the mountain, and from here even in summer the entire area is cool and peaceful and the only sound is that of the nearby running water. You can see the sea and capture the scent of all its inlets from the windows facing south. The very pretty and delicately coloured spring-time flowers painted on the walls look as if they were painted by Revelli himself».

Ernesto Ferrero, from N.

On the other hand Massimo Nava wrote the novel "Endless Love", the story of the love story between Napoleon and his beloved Maria Walewska.

Visits to Drouot's house

Today Drouot's house is privately owned, but since 2014, when the very popular Napoleon's Bicentenary was held, there are now previously booked, guided visits held every summer.

Napoleon and all those with him accompany the guests and as he talks to them he re-lives the Emperor's exile in Elba and brings back the atmosphere of the '800.

In welcoming the visitors  Count Drouot shows leaflets, drawings, books and documents connected to the Emperor that are put on show specifically for the occasion, while His Royal Highness the Emperor Napoleon in person tells of the time he spent in Elba, his accomplishments, his projects, his lovers and his escape, and Countess Maria Walewska entertains her guests while she sips myrtle and nibbles her "petits fours".