We're German and we had been looking for a historic villa in Italy for a long time. We knew we'd found what we were looking for when we first visited this house. Our aim was to create a place that touches rather than impresses, a place to retreat to that doesn't show off, but feels natural. In other words, a house with a soul, where nothing is ordinary, but everything is authentic. We were also won over by the combination of subtropical vegetation, Alpine mountains and the architecture of the region's historic buildings, constructed by Milanese industrialists in the last century.
The villa sits on the picturesque western shore 250 metres above Lake Maggiore, in the middle of an old garden bursting with vegetation. All of the rooms have breathtaking views of Lake Maggiore to the south and the Monte Rosa mountain range to the west. The building itself is in the Art Nouveau style. Inside, the rooms radiate elegance with their high ceilings adorned with impressive paintings. The original floors have largely been preserved. The main floor has original oak herringbone parquet flooring and the upper floor has pitch pine flooring. On the ground floor, the hand-finished Cementine floor with its antique pattern has been painstakingly brought back to life.
This former summer residence of a Milanese merchant family was built in 1907. This holiday resort allowed them to escape the city and enjoy the surrounding nature, as well as the coolness in summer and the relatively mild climate in winter. We bought the villa in the summer of 2022 and renovated it with a delicate blend of tradition and modernity.
The sun shines here from morning to night. The villa has balconies in almost every room and looking out in every direction. The historic pergola allows you to enjoy warm summer evenings with breathtaking views. The garden, with its subtropical vegetation of palms, camellias, jasmine and wisteria, is ideal to relax and meditate. There are several places to rest and dream, a breakfast area on the east side, a south-west terrace in front of the kitchen and even a greenhouse with citrus trees. The surrounding countryside is criss-crossed by numerous footpaths and mule tracks, and is ideally located for exploring the surrounding lakeside landscapes of northern Italy.
The Val Grande National Park, Italy's largest nature reserve covering 15,000 hectares in the hinterland of Piedmont, lies on the shores of Lake Maggiore and begins directly behind the villa. The lake itself is ideal for swimming and water sports around Pallanza/Suna. Coastal towns such as Cannero, Cannobio, Ghiffa, Oggebio and Luino are within easy reach, as is Villa Taranto and its magnificent grounds. The Borromean Islands are nearby (Isola Bella, Madre and Pescatore) and the famous Stresa, the destination of the Orient Express in 1900. The weekly market in the Piazza del Mercato in Intra Verbania is one of the biggest on Lake Maggiore.
The raised ground floor houses a large dining room with a fireplace, a fitted kitchen and a direct exit to the west garden with its arbour. On the same level, a corridor with a staircase and cloakroom leads to the bathroom. There are two bedrooms and a shared bathroom on the first floor. The third bedroom is on the garden level and its large bathroom is on the ground floor. The villa has four parking spaces.
ref 499204
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