Count Juozapas Tiškevičius (1835–1891) and Countess Sofija Tiškevičienė, née Horvataitė (1837–1919), married on 29 June 1860 in Barbarava, near Mozyr. Sofija came from the Horvatai family of Hungarian-origin nobility – her father, Aleksandras Horvatas, was a magnate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Between 1855 and 1865, Juozapas built the Swiss-style manor house at Lentvaris and began laying out the park by the lake – the young family lived here until 1875, when they relocated to Kretinga.
Eight of their twelve children survived to adulthood – among them Vladislovas Tiškevičius, who later became the founder of the Lentvaris church.