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The hall on the ground floor is decorated with frescoes by Battista Zelotti (Verona, 1526 -  Mantova, 1578) and Giovanni Antonio Fasolo (Mondello, 1530 - Vicenza, 1572) the two most important pupils of Paolo Veronese. There one can see the important fireplace from the 15th century, decorated on the sides with frescoes of Vulcan and Venus with Cupid on her lap; in front of the fireplace, over one of the doors, Mercury and Minerva. A band of cherubs and fruit runs along the four walls which show four scenes from Roman history, as told by Titus Livius: the encounter of Massinissa allied with Rome, with Hannibal's niece Sofonisba after the victory of Rome over Carthage; the Roman citizen Muzio Scevola, showing Rome's resistant will before the Etruscan King Porsenna; the meal of Cleopatra for Antony to convince him of the alliance against Augustus; the act of mercy of Scipione, setting free a girl from Carthage. The significance of this cycle of frescoes is not fully clear, but experts have dated the cycle to around 1570 and one can assume that the heir Giovanni Porto wanted to contrast the themes of loyalty and betrayal in order to emphasize the dedication of the General Francesco and the Porto family to Venice - also shown by the "Venetian" architecture of the Villa - however not without pointing out the difficult relationship between Venice and Vicenza, which was traditionally on the side of the empire.

The walls are decorated with paintings by an anonymous artist from the 17th century dedicated to the "celebration" of the horse.
The equestrian painting in the 17th century is closely linked to the contemporary art of horseriding, essential for a gentleman of the time, taught in academies with special attention to the riders character, his capacity for commanding the horse and thus his ability of letting the horse carry out a precise movement.

The stables can be attributed to Francesco Muttoni (Lugano, 1668 - Venice, 1747): columns of red marble from Verona with putti on top divide the 32 stables with their richly decorated troughs. On the floor, white and pink stones form a chainlink pattern; the stables are paved with bricks except for the space for the hind legs of the horses, which is cobbled. The first stable is supplied with fresh water, the supply originally dating from the 13th century.
A final detail is a tube in the wall, which served as an "eye" linking the house of the stablemaster, who lived next door to the stables in order to guarantee continous surveillance of the horses.