Around the half of the 15th century, Cosimo the Elder commissioned Michelozzo to build the castle of Trebbio on the ruins of an ancient Lombard tower.

Although it resembles a fortress, the "villa-castle", with its extremely severe architectural structure, had no defensive function. The villa stands at the centre of a wide agricultural estate and the members of the Medici family went there for hunting.

Numerous celebrities have stayed in the castle, such as the famous explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who took refuge in the castle while escaping from the 1476 pestilence in Florence and Giovanni dalle Bande Nere.