The building, with its L-shaped plan adapted to the slope of the hillside, still houses the administrative offices of the community of Scarlino, a function it has maintained since its construction, despite the various transformations and extensions it has undergone over the centuries.

The western façade is the oldest part of the complex: tall and narrow, it features two symmetrical portals and, in its lower section, preserves traces of the original masonry, later replaced in the upper levels. This masonry is notable for the regularity of its ashlar blocks, made of a light, almost white local limestone, in sharp contrast with the brown sandstone – known locally as macigno arenario – used for most of the village’s buildings.

The construction technique reflects high quality: the finely worked stones, laid in horizontal rows, still bear tool marks in some places. In certain sections, less regular stones can be seen, though they remain consistent with the whole.

The most distinctive architectural elements are the two symmetrical portals, separated by a central pillar and topped by round arches with extradosses, marked at their springing by moulded corbels. The voussoirs of the arches are particularly well crafted, shaped to highlight the extradoss with a projecting edge.

Although it is not the only building in the historic centre to preserve medieval features (similar examples include the so-called Count’s Palace and the town gates), the Town Hall is one of Scarlino’s most significant monuments, both for its architectural value and for the institutional role it has played over time.

Since its foundation, the building has been the seat of the municipal government, then known as the Domus Communis, home to the council responsible for administering the community, heir to the authority of the feudal castle. It also served as the courthouse with civil and criminal jurisdiction, which explains its traditional name of Palazzo Pretorio. Above the central pillar between the two portals is a stone coat of arms of the municipality, with the eight-pointed star symbol of Scarlino, testifying to the central role of the building in civic life.

A second coat of arms, set on the corner of the building where it meets Via della Rocca, recalls a particularly flourishing period: the rule of the Appiani. From 1399, Scarlino, together with Piombino, the Island of Elba, and other coastal centres formerly under the Republic of Pisa, became part of the Appiani lordship, which in 1594 was elevated to a principality. Although Piombino was the administrative capital, Scarlino was one of the family’s preferred residences, and here they built a new noble palace, ushering in a period of economic and social prosperity during the 15th and 16th centuries.

The coat of arms on the corner of the palace represents the Appiani family. Divided into quarters, it shows both the lozenges of the local lineage and the diagonal bands of the Aragonese family, with whom the Appiani became related after 1465. Above the shield, though only partially preserved, the figure of a dragon can still be made out: a symbol adopted by the family from the mid-15th century, during the rule of Jacopo III Appiani, sixth Lord of Piombino and Scarlino.