The outer appearance of the Villa Emo is marked by a simple treatment of the entire body of the building, whose structure is determined by a geometrical rhythm. The construction consists of brick-work with a plaster finish, visible wooden beams seen in the spaces of the piano nobile, and coffered ceilings like that within the loggia. The central structure is an almost square residential area. The living quarters are raised above ground-level, as are all of Palladio's other villas. Instead of the usual staircase going up to the main front door, the building has a ramp with a gentle slope that is as wide as the pronaos. This reveals the agricultural tradition of this complex. The ramp, an innovation in the Palladian villas, was necessary for transportation to the granaries by wheelbarrows loaded with food products and other goods. The wide ramp leads up to the loggia which takes the form of a column portico crowned by a gable – a temple front which Palladio applied to secular buildings. As in the case with the Villa Badoer, the loggia does not stand out from the core of the building as an entrance hall, but is retracted into it. The emphasis of simplicity extends to the column order of the loggia, for which Palladio chose the extremely plain Tuscan order. Plain windows embellish the piano nobile as well as the attic.