It was built between 1932 and 1935 as an independent single-family house designed by Piero Portaluppi, an important Milanese Rationalist architect, and is surrounded by a large private garden with a tennis court and swimming pool.

The house was envisioned as an elegant yet comfortable dwelling, modern in both style and facilities, as evidenced by the inclusion of an elevator, a dumbwaiter, intercoms and telephones, and a heated swimming pool.

[4] Beginning in 1938, and for the next twenty years, the Necchi Campiglio family engaged architect Tomaso Buzzi [it] to redesign the exterior and subsequently the furnishings of some rooms in a style inspired by 18th-century art, which was softer and more elaborate compared to the original minimalism of Portaluppi's spaces.

[7] The owners were prominent members of the cultured Lombard industrial bourgeoisie, and their lifestyle is reflected in the building, designed and constructed without budget constraints, showcasing the emerging architectural style (Italian Rationalism), the spacious and bright rooms, the furnishings, decorative arts, and the advanced and daring craftsmanship of the artifacts.

The movie, which narrates a fictional story, features the wealthy Milanese Recchi family living in the mansion, a name evidently inspired by the villa's original owners.