 After it was sold by the last of the Barbaros the palace was in great decay and most of its original decoration, above all the paintings, were gone.The Curtises begun a thorough restoration and kept the palace with love and dedication bringing it back to social and cultural life and making it the meeting place for some cosmopolitan Americans of the time.Other non-American visitors were also there to visit or entertain the hosts, among others the British poet Robert Browning who was a regular at the Palazzo during his stays in Venice.