According to the sign located on the facade above the entrance, the manor was built by count Sigismund Pejačević in 1801, with the actual construction beginning somewhere around 1796.

The Retfala estate was acquired by the Pejačević Counts as a grant by the then Austrian empress and Croatian-Hungarian Queen Maria Theresa in 1750.

The central pavilion is raised on the first floor, whilst the remaining part of the manor, complete with its lateral wings, is at ground level.

At ground level, the pavilion is articulated by arcades and a great series of ionic pilasters, which was originally covered by a mansard roof, as was the remainder of the building.

Once a part of the pleasure garden which stretched all around the manor, the mausoleum set within the contemporary Retfala Cemetery shares the same fate.