The building was commissioned in the 16th century for the aristocratic Venetian Piovene family, their architect believed to have been Andrea Palladio.

The villa is the product of three campaigns of work: documents demonstrate the existence of a manorial house, smaller than the present one and constructed before 1541, which was enlarged at a later stage by the addition of the pronaos bearing the inscribed date 1587: so the loggia that projects in the center—six Ionic columns supporting a triangular gable—may have begun by Palladio circa 1570 and completed after his death.

In the first half of the 18th century, the architect Francesco Muttoni constructed the lateral barchesse (side farm wings), laid out the garden and probably executed the double-ramp stairs which lead to the loggia.

Today, the villa is seen against a picturesque backdrop of a garden, which was laid out in the 19th century, situated in the plain of the Astico River.

In 1996, UNESCO included the building within the World Heritage Site "City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto".