In the 1880 the Villa was built in the municipality of Allerona by the wealthy financier Edouard Cahen of Antwerp, who, in love with Italy and its landscapes, had bought the estate from the aristocratic family of the Bourbon del Monte.
The estate extends for about thirty kilometers in circumference between two ridges in the valley of the Paglia river in an area currently known as the Selva of Meana.
The particular and fascinating feature of this place is represented by the Italian garden, full of tree and herbaceous species, including rare, that the owner brought there from the most distant places. The Villa is a rare example of art nouveau and has been designed with great care and enriched with natural and artificial furnishings. Other peculiarities consist in the lemon-house and greenhouses to protect plants during the winter. There is also a recently-restored Japanese garden located between the Italian garden and the greenhouses.
The Villa has a simple and elegant external form in the art nouveau style, known as Liberty style in Italy. Its external structure is enhanced thanks to the white surfaces of the walls. The shutters, the modulations of the lugs and overall the turret body add notes of color to the external structure. The villa is divided into several floors: a basement used as warehouses and premises for electrical and heating equipment, a ground floor for spacious and elegant halls to study, to receive and dining, a third floor for bedrooms and their confidential annexes to the owners, an additional floor for the servants' bedrooms.
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