VILLA CORNARO at Romano Alto was constructed by the Cornaro della Regina branch of the Cornaro family, c. 1600, on land acquired, c. 1591, from the Zane family (who had succeeded the Querini family in the chain of ownership). The villa descended in the line of Doge Giovanni [I] Cornaro (G-12), suggesting that he may himself have been the Cornaro who commissioned its construction.

The architect of the principal structure is not identified, but the orangeries built in the same early period are the work of the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi. An adjoining chapel was renovated in 1772. Stairs designed by the architect Duilio Torres were added, c. 1925, to connect the garden and park. In the courtyard a wrought-iron image of the Cornaro della Regina crown surmounts the central well.

By 1820 the villa was in the hands of Elisabetta (Cornaro) Grimani (G-58) and, upon her death, it descended in the Mocenigo family (into which her sister Laura Cornaro [G-59] had married). In 1898 the villa passed to the Rossi family and later was purchased by the Moizzi family. Since 1955 Villa Cornaro at Romano Alto has been the property of the Fatebene Brothers, who utilized it as a school until 1985 and then converted it to its present use as a rest home.