Dimora Dei Baroni

Main Menu

  • Hotel Budgeting
  • Hotel Financing
  • Hotel Management
  • Napoli Hotel
  • Fund

Dimora Dei Baroni

Header Banner

Dimora Dei Baroni

  • Hotel Budgeting
  • Hotel Financing
  • Hotel Management
  • Napoli Hotel
  • Fund
Napoli Hotel
Home›Napoli Hotel›Lake Como’s last hotel is an 18th-century gem

Lake Como’s last hotel is an 18th-century gem

By Lela Grear
May 16, 2022
0
0

The first time Valentina De Santis set foot on the premises of Villa Passalacqua, she assumed it would also be the last. It was October 2018: the three-story 18th-century villa in the small Lake Como town of Moltrasio was being auctioned off, and De Santis and his father – the only bidders to appear in person – had high hopes but low expectations. “It was a super closed but mostly remote auction. I think there were less than 10 bidders,” she recalls. “When we rang the doorbell – it was a cloudy day – a ray of sunlight broke through and hit the bell, and I thought, ‘Well, maybe that’s something. . . ?’ And oddly enough, it felt like a lot of people were supporting us, even at the villa. We were sure there would be at least one bidder with no price cap, which we certainly weren’t. We didn’t really think we would get it.

The garden terraces, with one of the villa’s historic fountains © Stefan Giftthaler

The Sala Ovale, Passalacqua's formal dining room

The Sala Ovale, Passalacqua’s formal dining room © Stefan Giftthaler

Three and a half years later, and after renovation expenditures of around 20 million euros, Valentina and her family will open Passalacqua to customers on June 3. There’s a reason locals quietly put down roots for the family: Since 1975, Paolo and Antonella De Santis — and, for the past decade, 39-year-old Valentina herself — have owned and operated the Grand Hotel Tremezzo, in the middle of the lake. area near Bellagio. For its many loyal and first-time customers, the Tremezzo — with its alpine “beach” and floating pool, the outposts of Gualtiero Marchesi and Giacomo restaurants, its vintage wooden boats flying the orange flag, and its high ceilings – end-of-the-century charm century – is Lake Como. And the De Santis family, often present on site, is one of its most charismatic ambassadors.

Valentina De Santis next to the vintage electric Fiat 500 convertible that takes guests between the terraces of the villa

Valentina De Santis next to the vintage electric Fiat 500 convertible that takes guests between the terraces of the villa © Stefan Giftthaler

Passalacqua is a different proposition. It has just 24 rooms and suites, compared to the Tremezzo’s 90, spread over a whopping 5 acres of private land. This scale informs the whole atmosphere, which is both more intimate and, in some ways, more exclusive than that of the Tremezzo.

It’s easy to spot: the only building in Moltrasio – just north of Cernobbio – which is surrounded by a wide green belt. Built in 1767, before much of the town existed, Passalacqua has some of the largest and most beautiful private gardens on the lake. The multiple terraces are planted with an olive grove, vegetable gardens and heritage roses, and shaded by bicentenary and tercentenary magnolias and Lebanese cedars. Its facade, painted a pale butter-biscuit yellow, stands out above them, striking in both its size and impeccable symmetry.

“Lo Scalone” – the grand staircase at the entrance to the villa © Stefan Giftthaler

Passalacqua was still a private home when it came into the hands of the De Santises in 2018. The previous owner, an American banker, renovated it in 2000 and commissioned renowned landscape designer Emilio Trabella to restore the gardens along the Formal Italian 18th century. lines. While everything was working perfectly, the family had a vision that needed to be (re)made.

“We started with something specific in mind, which was the feel of a real comasco home,” says Valentina. Hotels where you feel at home are a claim that is rarely met. But what the De Santis family has created hits the mark – an environment made up of three centuries of beautiful things, from fairs, merchants and auction houses, and family heirlooms, all put together with a clearly accomplished meaning. balance and fluidity.

A leather pouf printed and painted by hand

A hand-printed and painted leather pouf © Stefan Giftthaler

The Sala delle Musica, with its Murano sconces and chandelier

The Sala delle Musica, with its Murano sconces and chandelier © Stefan Giftthaler

The family turned to San Francisco-based design firm Bamo – whose work ranges from the elegant Capella in Bangkok to the Villa Feltrinelli on nearby Lake Garda (a kind of holy grail of hotel maximalism to the old) – to shape the initial project. “They really helped us make sense of the most difficult spaces,” says Valentina, which included the 60m² bathroom of the Bellini Suite, the largest in the villa.

Tubs sit below windows framing 1950s postcard views of the lake

De Santis’ task—and ultimately, she admits, family obsession—was to bring all the art together, along with the glassmakers and blacksmiths and lighting and textile designers. “My parents took care of most of the furniture,” says Valentina. “They went to fairs in Parma and auction houses in Naples, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany. Most of the time they just bought what they liked without knowing where it would go, and usually a good spot in the villa turned up. The De Santises commissioned Murano glassmakers Barovier & Toso to design sconces and chandeliers for the entire villa, including six spectacular two-metre-high light fixtures installed in the windows of the triple-height entrance hall. The etched glass minibars are inspired by an 18th century trumeau; the large Ottoman coffee tables, covered in hand-painted leather, were made to Passalacqua specifications by Bordoni, an Emilian leather goods boutique.

The bedroom of the Bellini Suite

The bedroom of the Bellini Suite © Stefan Giftthaler

The flowers are picked daily from the garden by the in-house florist

The flowers are picked daily from the garden by the in-house florist © Stefan Giftthaler

The bathroom of the Beatrice Suite

The bathroom of the Beatrice Suite © Stefan Giftthaler

De Santis’s father and mother collected the hundred or so 18th and 19th century prints that now adorn Passalacqua’s three lodgings (in addition to the villa, there are eight rooms in the former stable, known as de Palazz, and the Casa al Lago, a four-room “cottage” on its own garden terrace that can be reserved as a private residence). In the bathrooms, the spaces have been shaped by partitions clad in mottled marble in a bizarre way; tubs sit below windows framing 1950s postcard views of the lake; etched mirror shines and sparkles throughout.

Recommended

In the Palazz, the atmosphere of the rooms refers to the discreet architecture of the building, which once housed cattle. “It all started with the ceiling beams,” says Valentina – huge roughly hewn lengths of oak that have not been covered. She commissioned Fortuny for the hand-painted silk wall and ceiling lights, including the 3m cascading chandelier around which the main staircase revolves. The simple palette – oxblood red and forest green – was inspired by a remnant of a mural on one of the walls. Craftsmen have hand-drawn a tone-on-tone, gloss-on-matte damask pattern on the walls, which is highlighted where the light hits it. On the ground floor is the spa, the star of which is the former colonnaded nursery that has become a relaxation space dotted with vintage rattan chairs.

The pool of the villa takes place on one of its multiple terraces
The villa’s swimming pool is on one of its multiple terraces © Stefan Giftthaler
The Winter Garden, a greenhouse transformed into a bar by Milanese designer JJ Martin

The Winter Garden, a greenhouse transformed into a bar by Milanese designer JJ Martin © Stefan Giftthaler

But in Como, al fresco is the place to be, and Passalacqua is going to be a place of places thanks to the very clever use of its six garden terraces, linked by a winding pebbled ramp that goes up from the quay to the villa (guests got in and out in a vintage Fiat 500 electric convertible). At the villa level, breakfast and lunch are served under large green, white and ocher striped marquees. A terrace below is the swimming pool, surrounded by lush lawns and flanked by the Conservatory, a greenhouse transformed into a bar by Milanese designer JJ Martin, in a pared-down iteration of her multicolored patterned style.

Below are the rose gardens, which benefit from the shade of five huge magnolias. Keep relaxing and you reach the huge clay tennis court. “We call it our infinity yard,” she laughs. There is a long vegetable garden and, next to it, a petanque to research. The gym is in a second converted greenhouse behind the olive grove; outdoor equipment – ​​an elliptical trainer, a stationary bike, a rowing machine – sits enthroned among the trees. Gazebos for private lunches and dinners dot the stage. From almost every vantage point one has a view of the lake and, beyond, the steep slopes of Blevio and Monte Boletto. When it comes to Italian dreams, he’s extremely hard to beat.

From €1,000 per night in a bed and breakfast, passalacqua.it/en

Related posts:

  1. Chiefs of Qatar | MENAFN.COM
  2. Collier County pickleball championship huge enhance
  3. Golden Gate man Rodrigo Ochoa arrested for neglect of his canine
  4. Household of black teenager accused of mobile phone stealing sues lady at New York resort

Recent Posts

  • Tuscaloosa has a lot to offer travellers, stay-at-home vacationers
  • The Vogue guide to Capri: where to eat, sleep and sunbathe in Capri
  • Alleged N96 Billion Fraud: Rivers Gov Files Complaint Against Ruling APC Gubernatorial Candidate Amaechi, Cole and Others
  • How to save on family trips, without stressing too much
  • Himawari turns 22 and is going strong…

Archives

  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019

Categories

  • Fund
  • Hotel Budgeting
  • Hotel Financing
  • Hotel Management
  • Napoli Hotel
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions