Villa di Castello stands at the foot of the hills northwest of Florence, near Sesto Fiorentino. A fortified building is recorded there by at least 1427. Lorenzo and Giovanni di Pierfrancesco de' Medici bought it in 1477 and rebuilt it with a courtyard, loggia, kitchens and stables. Cosimo I later commissioned the gardens, and Vasari is named as architect.
Niccolò Tribolo designed the garden and fountains but died in 1550 with the work unfinished. Ferdinando I completed the villa in 1588 to 1595, enlarging the east side and remaking the facade, which the article calls remarkable mainly for its plainness. The terraced garden has a grotto and over 500 citrus pots.
From 1737 the Habsburg-Lorraine rulers dismantled fountains and destroyed the maze. The state received the villa in 1919, and the garden became a national museum in 1984. The house is the headquarters of the Accademia della Crusca.
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