The presence and influence of the Malacari family in the Offagna region dates back to the XVI century. The Malacari family has owned this land since the early 1500s. In 1556, Andrea and Simone Angelo Malacari became members of the Senate of Ancona called ‘Il Consiglio degli Anziani.' During the XVII century, family territory was extended to include land in the Gallignano county and the estate in Offagna was expanded with the purchase of Grigiano Hill by Marquess Crescentino Baviera. In 1648, in Ancona, the City Residence (now property of Comune di Ancona) was built in Via Podesti of the Capodimonte district and in 1668, in Offagna, Villa Malacari was built.
The Villa is a perfect example of an estate-farm of ancient origins in the form of a half-rhombus. On the first floor of the central wing we can find the real and true ‘home' environment. On the ground floor are the cellars and in the lateral wings the oil mill, horse stables, barrel building and repair workshop, tools, farm carts and wheat stores are found. Due to its beauty and originality, Villa Malacari has been designated by the Society of Artistic Heritage as an historical and architectural asset.
The vast agricultural estate, once about 1000 hectares, spreads southward to Osimo and northward to Gallignano including farmlands in the current territories of Offagna, Osimo, Ancona, Polverigi and Filottrano.
Over the course of the centuries the Malacari family played an important role in the economic, social, and political life of Ancona and Marche. In 1749 Count Girolamo Malacari was consul of the Reign of the Two Sicilies. Architect and intellectual Andrea Malacari, Count of Grigiano, supporter of Italy unification and Consul of Prussia in Ancona, headed the triumvirate leading the Repbulic of Ancona since 1830. In 1818 Abbott Angelantonio Rastelli dedicated his ‘Treaty of Good Cultivation, Education and Improvement' to Andrea Malacari because of his commitment to politics and farming. We also have Andrea Malacari to thank for the beautiful frescoes and neoclassic stuccos that adorn the first floor of the villa. Alessandro Malacari, Andrea's grandson, was lieutenant of Garibaldi and was injured during the Milazzo battle in Sicily. After the battle he became officer of Bersaglieri and finally a member of the first Italian Parliament as well as mayor of Offagna and acting mayor of Ancona. He also never stopped developing and improving new techniques of modern 9th century agriculture and organized the Mount Granario in the Offagna district. His son, Francesco, President of the Cassa di Risparmio of Ancona and, once again, mayor of Offagna, introduced notable improvements for the cellars and granaries. Over the centuries Villa Malacari was the centre of lively meetings, parties, and informal receptions. In 1936 and 1938 Duke Aimone di Savoia dwelled at the estate.
After the Second World War Arianna Malacari, the last heiress, married Baron Giovanni Starrabba di Ralbiato and the couple devoted themselves to the conversion from tenant farmer to one of direct management. They invested in the mechanisation and specialisation of industrial cultivation such as sugar beet and sunflower oil. They also dedicated themselves to the development of experimental seed for durum wheat, sunflower, sugar beet, as well as ‘zootecnia' (cattle of the Marche breed and simmenthal) and to establishing the first vineyards for DOC, Registered Designation of Origin (1960-1971).
