The later construction was designed by Romano Carapecchia, which is considered a masterpiece, with its back having an elegant clock that is a unique feature to secular Baroque architecture in Malta.

It later served for a number of purposes, including a post-World War II shelter for the homeless, a short-lived Museum of Modern Art and the Ministry for Tourism office.

According to a Latin inscription above the main entrance, the palace and its surrounding gardens were built "for the people's recreation", and it was used for cultural activities.

[4][5] Since the building's erection on site it was occasionally the summer residence of the Grandmaster, generally for the celebration of the Ta' Lapsi Feast, and this was a tradition that was continued uninterruptedly throughout till the expulsion of the Order.

[6] The palace was eventually passed on to Fra Giovanni Battista Spinola, the nephew of the original owner, and he enlarged and embellished it in 1733 under the direction of the architect Romano Fortunato Carapecchia.

[14][15] It served generally, but not exclusively, for soldiers suffering forms of venereal diseases and hosted at least twenty patients at a time.

[19] Following the cholera epidemic of 1865, when three patients there died, a sanitary report asserted that the building, being a non-purposely built and antique residence, was not suitable as a hospital.

[20] Since its inauguration as a hospital until at least the end of the 19th century, the building had serious issues related to a bad drainage system and ventilation.

[33] It was restored between 1984 and 1986[5] when at this point it was projected to host the Museum of Modern Art at the upper floors, but after its opening it was unsuccessful at attracting a reasonable number of visitors.

The Enforcement Directorate of the Malta Tourism Authority was then transferred there, using the palace as centre of operations until 2007.

[47][48] In late 2006 Malta submitted interest in hosting the Headquarters of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM).

[54] Between the night of 12 and 13 March 2009 unknown perpetrators have illegally entered the building causing damage to the premises and committing a robbery of a number of items used by the PAM.

[55][56] A renewal for a continuous use of the premises was signed on 10 December 2014,[57] by the Minister for Foreign Affairs George William Vella and the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Francesco Maria Amoruso [it], at Palazzo Parisio in Valletta.

[1] According to Giovanni Bonello, the palace is the very first building to hold a clock as a central feature and the only to have it on a non-religious baroque façade in Malta.

[66] The palace originally was surrounded by large extensive gardens open for the entertainment of the public, but little remains of them.

Both restaurants are managed by San Giuliano Catering Ltd.[79] Cut away from the palace's original garden is the Spinola Belvedere.