The Ionic Villa is the first of six villas built for the Crown Estate Commissioners on the north-west corner of Regents Park, London, continuing the picturesque tradition established by John Nash in the early part of the 19th century. The Ionic Villa is at the broadest end of the site and so has more depth before meeting the slope down to the Regents Canal. The plan therefore has a narrow front with a depth unlike that of the succeeding villas. It is based on a design by Andrea Palladio for Signor Girolamo Ragona at Le Ghissole, published in the Quattro Libri. This Palladian plan has a familiar early-Georgian external treatment. The building is constructed in loadbearing brickwork, with natural and reconstructed stone dressings, and faced in stucco. The details emphasise the finer points of the Ionic Order.