Villa Wolkonsky (in Italian, the word villa usually includes not only a large building but also its grounds) is the official residence of the British ambassador to Italy in Rome. It was originally owned by a Russian princess, Zenaǐde Wolkonsky (born Zenaǐde Alexandrovna Belosselsky-Belozersky), who made her home there in the 1830s. Her salon was frequented by Karl Brullov, Alexander Ivanov, Bertel Thorvaldsen, Gaetano Donizetti, Stendhal, and Sir Walter Scott. Nikolai Gogol wrote much of Dead Souls at the villa. Subsequently it passed through various ownerships until it was sold to the German government in 1920, becoming the German embassy and ambassador's residence.