Villa Rubini in Merlana was built in the 18th century by the ancient Friulian family of Count Mantica.
In 1833 Count Nicolò del fu Leonardo Mantica sold the entire complex, with the adjacent agricultural estate of 272 Friulian fields, to Domenico Rubini who, developing his father Pietro’s business, had become one of the largest producers of silk yarn in Friuli, yarn which he provided for large-scale trading, traveling (evidently by carriage!) to Milan and Vienna, where he had set up warehouses of his products.
It was he who arranged for a new agricultural warehouse to be built on the north side of the garden, replacing the previous smaller one. This is the typical “folador” of the Friulian plain: that is, a building with on the ground floor two long side-by-side rooms, one on the south side intended as a vat cellar, and one on the north side intended as a wine cellar, and on the second floor a single room intended for grain storage.
At a later period, the building was used for silkworm breeding, installing the necessary stoves, which were later removed.