Villa Maya's story goes back many years to a time when Arumana ammaveedu held a prestigious place in the hearts of the kings of Travancore. Its tryst with royalty delves far beyond its 18th century avatar as a Dutch manor, dating back probably to the time when Maharajah Karthika Thirunal Dharma Raja shifted his capital from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) taking along with him his four wives one of whom belonged to the Arumana Ammaveedu.