In 1936, it was acquired by the Viscountess Doris Castlerosse on the condition that the authorities granted her permission to restore it. In 1924, it was bought by the Hungarian businessman and art collector, Baron Marzcell de Nemes, who unsuccessfully attempted to manage the property. From the 1910s to 1924 it was rented by the Marchesa Luisa Casati Amman, a wealthy heiress who was muse and model for numerous artists, including Giovanni Boldini, Augustus John, Man Ray and Paolo Troubetzkoy, and hostess to the Ballets Russes. In the following decades the abandoned construction site began to take its present shape. Late in the 19th century the palazzo and its garden was acquired by the Levi family.
Over the centuries they provided eighteen Procurators of St Mark’s and three Doges, among them Sebastiano Venier, commander of the Venetian fleet under the command of John of Austria at the Battle of Lepanto (1571), and later Doge (1577–78). The Venier family, who claimed descent from the gens Aurelia of ancient Rome (of which the emperors Valerian and Gallienus were members), were among the oldest Venetian noble families. Although it is said that a lion was once kept in the garden, the name is likely to have arisen from the lion heads in Istrian stone which decorate the façade at water level.
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