Tag: Villa d'Este

It was seven years ago when I first visited the Grand Hotel Villa D’Este in Cernobbio on Lake Como. It became a place of yearning for me. At that time I had accepted an invitation from the BMW Group Classic, which has organised a unique show together with the hotel every May since 2005: the “Concorso d’Eleganza”, probably the most extravagant presentation of classic cars in the world. The setting was perfect. The lake glistened in sunshine, the magnificent house, a palace, in yellow and white with high columns and stone balconies provided the backdrop. I sat on the terrace, directly on the water, and let the Bugattis, Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs and Fords of past eras pass by me. They were driven by ladies and gentlemen who were dressed in the style of the 20s, 30s or 70s according to the vintage of their cars. I don’t remember the details. But I do remember the villa, which I did not enter that afternoon, but which nevertheless became a place of yearning. The builder was a cardinal n 1568, Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio had architect Pellegrino de’ Pellegrini build a villa on the shores of Lake Como, grandiose with perfect proportions, intended as a meeting place for literati, musicians and artists of his time. For about 200 years, the villa, then called Garrovo, was owned by the Gallio family. The subsequent owners were a motley crew: from a playboy from Milan, who bequeathed the property to his widow, a former ballerina at La Scala in Milan, to Caroline of Brunswick, England’s uncrowned queen, who gave the house the name “Villa D’Este”. Finally, in 1873, a couple of Milanese businessmen bought the property and rededicated it into the luxury hotel it still is today. The synonym of luxury is splendor And it is seen everywhere in this wonderful property: in the 10-hectare Renaissance gardens, where a 500-year-old plane tree reigns over the flowerbeds along with numerous statues; in the entrance hall with tall columns of white marble, by the mighty crystal chandeliers, the works of old masters on the wall, by the only swimming pool in the world that floats on a lake and the temple-like complex, which is decorated with mosaic stones and is one of the most photographed buildings beyond the Colosseum in Rome. My gaze falls on the mosaics as I stand on the balcony of my room, an exuberantly appointed space with a princess bed, a velvet couch and a honey-colored marble bathroom.… weiterlesen