[2][3] It was constructed as a rectangular building with corner towers, a type of residence known as Poggio–Reale - Serlio after the Villa Poggio Reale in Naples.

The Villa Regia had a magnificent loggia at its garden facade, with a wonderful view of the Vistula River and its opposite, Praga bank.

[3] Another feature of the gardens was a large arbor where initially the Fleming royal painter Christian Melich had his studio, but which was later selected by Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga as the venue for her literary salon.

In the 1650s, sculptor Giovanni Francesco Rossi created profuse Roman-Baroque-style marble decorations, with busts of Roman emperors and of King John II Casimir and Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga (today displayed at Gripsholm Castle in Sweden).

[4] The Villa Regia had a large concert hall, decorated with an oil-painted plafond depicting St. Cecilia, patron saint of music and of Queen Cecila Renata, where the Royal Cappella Vasa gave frequent concerts, and a large collection of ancient sculptures which would be plundered during the Deluge by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, and taken to Berlin;[3][4] while the garden sculptures were taken to Sweden.

In this period were constructed an entrance gate at Krakowskie Przedmieście and eight barracks set perpendicularly to the palace façade.

A brickworks, a stove factory and a brewery were established here, and in 1737-39 he rebuilt the palace, probably to a rococo design by Johann Sigmund Deybel and Joachim Daniel von Jauch.

[4] In 1765, ownership was transferred to King Stanisław II August, who located the Corps of Cadets here following interior redesigns by Domenico Merlini.

In 1814, a fire destroyed the barracks before the palace, and in 1816 their place was taken initially by two side pavilions designed by Jakub Kubicki.