Originally, the Villa Reale in Marlia was a fortress belonging to the Duke of Tuscia dating back to the 10th century. A 1517 document testifies that the Avvocati family sold the villa to the Buonvisi family. Due to the bankruptcy of their business, the Buonvisi family was forced to sell the villa to Lelio and Oliviero Orsetti in 1651.

Lelio and Oliviero Orsetti commissioned the construction of the adjoining "Palazzina dell`Orologio" (House of the Clock) and realised a wonderful baroque garden decorated with magnificent plays of water, nymphaeums and statues.

In 1806 Elisa Baciocchi, Napoleon`s sister and Queen of Etruria - hence the name of the villa ("reale" in English means royal) - purchased the villa and the neighbouring Villa del Vescovo and ordered that the two estates be unified.
A new storey was added to the villa and many baroque elements were eliminated in the garden, which was transformed into an English garden. Only the chapel and the so-called "Grotta di Pan" (Pan`s Grotto) were not demolished.

After Napoleon`s fall, the villa, where Niccolò Paganini performed in different occasions, has undergone several transfers of property.