The silk merchant’s house

The villa was finished in the spring of 1911 for a silk merchant who wanted somewhere cool for the summer and close enough to the mills to be back by lunch. He chose a spot where the lake bends and the afternoon wind drops.

What he left

When we began the restoration we found his ledgers in the cellar, packed in a crate with the summer menus of 1923. They list the price of ice, the boatman’s wages and a standing order for lemons from the garden at Tremezzo.

He wrote that the house should be quiet enough to hear the boats before you see them. We have tried to keep it that way.

The terrazzo floors

The floors on the first floor are the originals, laid by a team from Friuli in the winter of 1910. We lifted, cleaned and relaid every tile on the boat terrace by hand.

His initials are still carved above the cellar door. Ask the night porter to show you on the way down to dinner.