The villa itself is, in architectural terms, somewhat plain. Ligorio did, however, execute a fine staircase loggia on the garden front.

Villa on the edge of the town, famous for its fine gardens with their spectacular fountains and waterworks. In 1550 Ippolito II d'Este (i), Cardinal of Ferrara, was appointed governor of Tivoli. He decided to transform the governor's residence located in a portion of an old run-down Benedictine monastery attached to S Maria Maggiore into a lavish villa with splendid gardens devised by Pirro Ligorio. By using ancient statues, some excavated from Hadrian's Villa which is nearby, and contemporary fountain sculpture, Ligorio devised an elaborate iconographical garden layout celebrating the Cardinal. The villa itself is, in architectural terms, somewhat plain. Ligorio did, however, execute a fine staircase loggia on the garden front.