The majestic complex(1) of the Rossi villa-park with the annexed small Church of S. Spirito and model farm including a Horticulture and Pomology College is situated half-way between the two industrial centres of Schio and Piovene Rocchette. It is a refined cultural urban complex which was accomplished thanks to the organisational capacity of the commissioner Alessandro Rossi and the artistic sensitivity and competence of the designer Antonio Caregaro Negrin.
It fits in perfectly with the surrounding natural scenery. The view from the lower valley shows the stretch of meadows and greenhouses which gives way to the wooded areas where the land begins to rise towards the mountain. The villa is harmoniously integrated as a discreet architectonic element which draws attention to the pre-existing small Church of S. Orso (its bell tower was purposely elevated to complete the scenography) and, beyond this, to the green slopes of Mount Summano.
The complex therefore extends from the mountain to the countryside and crosses the entire built-up area. This corresponded to a precise plan by Rossi, who in 1865 bought the modest Bonifacio-Velo eighteenth-century villa with the small church and most of the surrounding land from the Prosdocimi family, with the intention of turning it into a peaceful private oasis for himself, as well as his representative headquarters, and creating a ‘model farm’ having the most advanced agricultural production systems.