The palace was the home of the Grifi family, also known as Griffi or Grifo, contractors for the collection of gabelle under the
Sforza. The family, of merchant origins, had among its exponents influential intellectuals of the Sforza court. Particular mention should be made of Leonardo,
archbishop of Benevento and author of poems, and his brother Ambrogio,
archiater at the court of
Ludovico il Moro, to whom a
chapel in
San Pietro in Gessate is dedicated. Construction of the palazzo was begun at the end of the 15th century and completed in the following century, in post-Bramantesque forms. Among the building's many vicissitudes, in the 19th century it was the site of the Albergo
Gran Parigi, terminus of the stagecoach (carriage) to
Pavia. Despite this, it has preserved one of the best-preserved Renaissance-style courtyards in Milan. == Description ==