an English attack on Napoleon's Ligurian Republic. Napoleon garrisoned the Castello and increased its armament to protect coastal traffic against the British fleet, which unsuccessfully attacked it again in March 1814. The castle was abandoned after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The fortress was formally disarmed in 1867, just before it was sold to the Yeats-Brown family. During the German occupation of Italy, the castello was used as a prison for partisans. Residential history In 1867, the structure was purchased for 7,000 lire by Montague Yeats-Brown, then English consul in Genoa. He engaged the architect , and with advice from his artist friend and fellow-consul James Harris the fort was transformed to a comfortable villa without substantial alteration in its general form. Brown bought many church reliefs during the general selling-up of churches in the 1880s and made them a feature of the villa's interior and terraces. Jocelyn and Lieutenant-Colonel John Baber CBE purchased Castello Brown in 1949, and sold it to the municipality in 1961. Throughout this time, the property was managed by several generations of the Garbarino family. References Further reading Castello Brown: Brief historical notes, undated brochure from the castello External links The official website Villas in Liguria Castles in Liguria