Verdi and Giuseppina Strepponi, the opera singer with whom he lived prior to their 1859 marriage, moved into the Villa in 1851.

There had been a farmhouse on the property when Verdi bought it, and the composer's building work began as extended wings onto it.

But the project grew such that the original home was replaced: the two wings had terraces to the front, and there were greenhouses added and a chapel and garages for coaches in the rear.

Strepponi and Verdi greatly expanded the garden around the house and planted many trees, some exotic in origin and a few still alive.

[1] Visitors are allowed to view five rooms located on the ground floor of the south wing which were occupied by the composer and his wife.