The castle of Villanueva del Cañedo (also known as the castle of Buen Amor) was built on the remains of a previous castle of the 11th century, and of which the basement is still preserved. In 1477 the castle became property of Alonso Ulloa de Fonseca Quijada, Bishop of Ávila. Fonseca reconstructed the castle turning it into a Renaissance palace.
Between 1958 and 1960 the castle was restored by its current owners who converted it into a hotel.
Linderhof is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.
Ludwig II, who was crowned king in 1864, began his building activities in 1867-1868 by redesigning his rooms in the Munich Residenz and laying the foundation stone of Neuschwanstein Castle. In 1868 he was already making his first plans for Linderhof. However, neither the palace modelled on Versailles that was to be sited on the floor of the valley nor the large Byzantine palace envisaged by Ludwig II were ever built.
Instead, the new building developed around the forester's house belonging to his father Maximilian II, which was located in the open space in front of the present palace and was used by the king when crown prince on hunting expeditions with his father.