The villa was designed by Taut himself, and was based on Japanese architecture accounting for nearly decares of land. The villa also overlooks the Bosporus, also known as the Strait of Istanbul. The famed architect and planner fled Nazi Germany in 1932, following the latter's rise to power, where he first settled in Switzerland, and later to Japan.
In 1936, Taut relocated to Turkey, taking up a position as a professor at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul.
Taut was among other Jewish academics and scientists who fled Nazi Germany to live and work in Turkey, many of who were employed at Ankara University. During the 1930s, approximately 130 Jewish academics were involved in the founding of important departments at the university, including the Urban Development Institute, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and the the Department of Pediatric Medicine.
Taut died in December 1938, and was honored with a grave at the Edirnekapı Martyr's Cemetery as its first and only non-Muslim.