Built in the 18th century by the Controni family (and successively property of the families Nannelli, Matteucci and today’s Montauti), it was well-known for its cultivations of rare flowers. The building has an elongated shape. The front portion of the garden has an asymmetrical layout with beds planted with box trees, while the uphill portion is characterised by a central pond.

Villa di Vorno is tied to the figure of Lucca engineer Felice Matteucci who, assisted by Eugenio Barsanti, conceived a prototype of a piston engine from which the internal combustion engine was later developed. A plaque on the left of the entrance gate to the villa recalls that

«IN THIS HOUSE
ENDED THE NOBLE EARTHLY EXISTENCE
OF
FELICE MATTEUCCI
WHO WITH P. EUGENIO BARSANTI
INVENTING AND REALISING THE COMBUSTION ENGINE
GAVE A NEW AND UNEXPECTED DRIVE TO LIFE
AND NEW GLORY TO ITALY.
IN THE ONE-HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INVENTION
1854-1954
THE COMMUNE OF CAPANNORI
Q.M.P.»