Situated on the hills surrounding Lucca, in the area were once stood the parish church of San Pancrazio, Villa Grabau was probably built on the ruins of a pre-existing 15th-century building.

At the beginning of the 16th century the villa belonged to the Diodati family - important Lucca merchants -, who at first maintained its original gothic structure. Only at the end of the 16th century did the renovation works begin aiming at transforming the villa in a Renaissance-style building.

The Gualarducci family acquired the villa in 1653 and about 20 years later sold it to the Orsetti family. The Orsetti family owned the villa until 1854, when Enrico Cittadella inherited it.

Under the influence of the transformations Elisa Baciocchi made in the Villa Reale in Marlia, the Cittadella family began some renovation works aiming at transforming the villa into a Neoclassical building.
At present, the only original element inside the villa is the chapel next to the main hall.

The German banker Rodolfo Schwartze purchased the villa in 1868 and gave it to his wife, Carolina Grabau, so that she could stay close to her sister Costanza and her brother Carlo Luigi, who lived in the neighbourhood.