The geographical position of the villa, high above the right bank of the Lambro has been chosen because it dominated the valley of the river and the road, which linked high Brianza to Milan.
The original medieval tower was the defence point of the compulsory routes between the two banks of Carate, at the time a small settlement and throughout the Middle Ages the centre of conflicts between the Viscontis and the Torianis.
The first nucleus was built by the Caratis, vassals of the Confalonieris from Agliate, in the first century after 1000, when Carate became a village. According to Ignazio da Cantù, in 1162 the nucleus was destroyed by Federico Barbarossa, while moving towards Pavia,and it was built again after some years.
In the late 1500s, the castle belonged to the Confalonieris, when Valerio Confalonieri restored the tower and built a trabeated porch as added storey with columns in pink granite and simple capitals overlooking the courtyard.
Throughout the XVII centuty Villa Cusani was the only one to maintain a dominant position over the river Lambro.
A document dated bach to 1606 shows that the villa maintained a four-sided plan round a porticoed courtyard, typical of the Visconti fortress. Valerio Confalonieri had the two bodies leaning against the donjon, because the Villa had acquired the function of “residence”. Besides he wanted a triforium loggia, which overlooked the Italian garden.
The frameless windows at the front of the big rooms on the ground floor in the north and the cold store date back to the early 1600.
In 1722, in the maps ordered by Maria Teresa, a fortification and a circumvallation ditch were present, which proved the village expansion. A piece of the circumvallation was filled up along the Northern side of the building, as it happened in Brenna’s plans in 1836.
The ambassador Luigi Cusani Confalonieri rebuilt the tower cover and raised up the west side to create a living area, after the demolitions, thus enlarging the courtyard towards the “oratorio”, the Italian garden and the park and involving the extension of the two parallel porticoed sides and the stables. All this work was completed in the early XX century.
The villa has been a property of Carate Brianza Town Hall since 1976. Nowadays in the east side of the villa and in the north space near it there is the local library.
The east side and the north space of the villa are under restoration but their future function has not been decided yet.
The building may be used as a museum dedicated to Romagnosi as it was proposed beforehand

Architectural description

A villa of the Seventeenth century, situated on such a position thanks that dominates the valley of the Lambro river, from. It covers a surface of eight hundred and thirty square metres, while the surrounding park and the other external structures approximately cover two thousand square metres.
The architectonic complex preserves the quadrilateral plant, the old foundations and the tower of the ancient castle.
The use of pre-existing buildings is a characteristic common to most of the villas on the Milanese territory. The problem of the transformation of the spaces does not imply a total destruction, (rare both for economic reasons and for historical fidelity) but it is solved by the aggregation of new bodies around the ancient nucleus: an emblematic example is the medieval tower of the villa, which was originally used as a look-out place for the valley of the Lambro.
By the end of the 1700's the villa becomes a residence for summer holidays. Subsequently, in the eighteenth century, important modifications were brought about: a first widening was carried out in the north-east side, later the rear side was also widened. Where now there is the main entrance gate to the park, originally were situated farmhouses; while the square part was a great courtyard for the peasants of the villa. The wood store was built in the eighteenth century and its walls are characterised by the presence of niches. As far as the windows are concerned, the large in the central hall, with a wonderful sight, is probably the most characteristic.

Façade

The façade has a horizontal structure and it is anticipated by a large flight of steps with flower-boxes. It is characterised, in the central part, by four columns, overhung by an architrave.
Over the columns, we can notice three arches, made of bricks.

Basement floor

The medieval tower is raised over a squared perimeter, apart from the wine cellar of the basement, on which the tower has its foundations: this room, in fact, is characterised by a rectangular plant.
On the same floor, next to the wine cellar, there is a large room used as a boiler- room.
It is the most ancient part of the villa, and it constitutes the central body on which the medieval tower is based. Another particular room of the lower floor is the ice-house, which has an original cylindrical shape. Its function was to maintain the room fresh and, at the same time, dry.

Ground floor

As far as the ground floor is concerned, it consists of seven rooms, of which four have medium dimensions and a square perimeter, while the other three chambers have a rectangular shape. One of them is the central hall of the palace.
The large window, with panoramic sight, is very charming.
Another interesting aspect of this room is the ceiling, characterised by beams in typical fir-tree and chestnut wood, the remarkable length of which and gravity create particular bendings.
The right side of the building is now used as a library, laid on various levels. Here we can find a fireplace and a family tree with the coat of arms of the Confalonieris.
Fireplaces like this one can be found in almost every room and are made of “molera” stone- a hard but crumby material – and they are decorated with heraldic coats of arms made in French marble and the insignia of the Cusani, to exalt their noble origins and to celebrate their prestige.
As far as the floors are concerned, the majority of them is made in brickwork, a poor product made directly on the place, consisting of a light red-coloured paste, dried in the sun.

First floor

Next to the external portico, in front of the central hall, there is a door through which it is possible to enter the upper floors.
On the first floor we can see a long, wide corridor, on which the rooms overlook. Its left side is characterised by five large windows. The right side of the corridor leads to three rooms.

Second floor

The second floor can be reached through the stairs at the end of the first-floor corridor. It only has three rooms, one of which is rectangular, the wider ones have a square shape.