Another Day, Another Villa

As it turned out, yesterday was another warm and sunny day.  We were sure glad to see that as we had planned to go to Villa Balbianello near the small town of Leno, a few ferry stops from here.  So, in the early afternoon we took the ferry and then walked the short distance to the water taxi which took us to the villa for 7 Euros return.  The entrance fee for the gardens and the house is 17 Euros and it is money well spent!  I had been here before 5 years ago and found this place fascinating - both for its story and its location.  The last time it was raining and, even then, I got lovely photos so I knew this day would be special.  On the way there, we shared the water taxi with an English couple who live in LA and, during the tour, we continued to talk to them (more about that later).

The villa is located on the tip of a small wooded peninsula on the western shore of the south-west branch of Lake Como, not far from Isola Comacina, and it is famous for its elaborate terraced gardens. 

Some of the gardens

The villa was built in 1787 on the site of a Franciscan monastery for Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini. The two towers which can be seen in top picture are the campanili of the convent church. After the cardinal’s death in 1796, Giuseppe Arconati Visconti bought the villa and made improvements to its gardens and the loggia.  In the 19th century, the villa belonged to the Porro-Lambertenghi family. By the early twentieth century, the buildings had fallen into disrepair when an American businessman, Butler Ames, purchased and renovated the villa and its garden. In 1974, it was bought by the businessman and explorer, Guido Monzino.  He owned the first chain of department stores in Italy which made him a wealthy man but his primary interest was being adventurer.  For example, he led the first Italian expedition to climb Mount Everest.  He filled the villa with rich collections of artifacts acquired on his expeditions. Monzino, who died in 1988, left the villa to the Fonda per l'Ambiente Italian, the National Trust of Italy.  A number of  feature films have used the villa for location shooting including A Month by the Lake (1995) and Casino Royale (2006).

Monzino's Office

View of the loggia

Now, back to the English couple.  As the tour continued we talked more and more to them.  We told them about a restaurant we planned to go to on Sunday and they said it sounded so interesting that they might see us there. Stay tuned for the rest of the story in the next blog.

 

I took many, many photos of the villa both inside and out - way too many to post here.  Suffice it to say, it is really a lovely spot to visit and the collections of artifacts from Monzino's travels are both fascinating and priceless.  The house is also furnished with furniture from various French and English historical periods.  Furthermore, it is the "quintessential" Italian villa - the glamorous one we all have in our minds when we imagine that sort of thing.