Casalzuigno is a little town 327 meters above sea lvel at the foot of a range of hills that stretch from Laveno on the lombardy side of Lake maggiore along Valcuvia towards the Swiss border and as far as Luino.

It was here in Casalzuigno that in 1500 Giroldino, a member of the noble Della Porta family, purchased a large tract of land on which he built a lordly manorhouse traces of which can still be seen inside the villa and in the outhouses. Initially, Casalzuigno was built as a country house but later became a holiday retreat in the middle of a vast estate, and not the family's seat of power.

Later generations gradually enlarged the house, but the most significant and radical changes were made between the end of the 17th century and the first decades of thr 18th century By Gian Angelo III Della Porta, very likely on the occasion of his marriage to Isabella, the daughter of Count Giorgio Giulini.

The beautiful villa was probably surrounded by an elegant garden, but it was small, and the space in front of the house was certainly not large enough for what Gian Angelo Della Porta had in mind. He was thus obliged to go against all the accepted rules which stated that a garden should be in line with the principal rooms of the house.

With the help of an unknown architect he achieved his ambitious project by courageously laying out his garden in a parallel line to the facade of the house , and building a fantastic approach avenue connecting the main parterre, four terraces joined by a stately flight of steps, the wide green slope called the "theatre" with a fountain at the bottom and the long, steep cypress avenue that climbs up through the wood beyond as far as the hilltop dominating the valley and the estate.

The scenic effect is breathtaking. This is due in large part to the splendid contrast between the tight space of the four terraces with their balustrades and numerous statues in Viggiù stone, and the broad airy meadow beyond, with its ornate fountain at the bottom built by an architect called Pellegatta in 1723. There is no doubt that the garden of Casalzuigno is one of the most majestic, harmonious and rare example of garden architecture still exhistant in Italy.