Villa Balbiano : Italian opulence on lake Como

Nestled in the shadow of the Alps in Italy's Lakes District, Villa Balbiano has always represented an absolute ideal of fine living. This romantic sixteenth-century architectural masterpiece is located on Lake Como, one of the world's most glamorous locations and a place of culture and delight for more than two thousand years. After an exceptional restoration project led by the internationally renowned decorator Jacques Garcia, Villa Balbiano and its gardens are more vibrant than ever.

Villa Balbiano

Villa Balbiano is one of the most iconic historic dwellings on Lake Como - a highlight on the shore of this elegant and exclusive vacation site celebrated since Roman times and that continues to attract an international elite.

This volume tells the story of a masterpiece of Renaissance-style architecture and recounts its illustrious past, which spans centuries. It is a monument that has only gained in majesty over time, as it passed from owner to owner. The construction of new building elements, the painting of magnificent frescoes, and the cultivation of an increasingly extensive and extraordinary garden have all helped make it a vital part of the history of Lake Como, a region of exemplary natural, intellectual, and artistic heritage.

Villa Balbiano attained a height of splendor at the end of the eighteenth century, when Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini, an enlightened patron of the arts and man of letters, transformed it into a marvelous workshop for ideas and art - a platonic ideal of the humanist dream.

Each drawing room, with its grand proportions and trompe l'oeil, frescoed dreamscape of classical ruins and springtime groves of leaves and flowers is a theater of elegance. Ever changing throughout the day, they are ignited by bright sun and deep shadows, and at night by the magic of the golden light of myriad crystal chandeliers.

Today, the masterful restoration of Villa Balbiano, guided by the French interior architect Jacques Garcia after long, in-depth historical research, combines the original ornamentation with precious materials and refined decoration, and opens a new chapter at the stately villa, which crowns a landscape celebrated since antiquity by poets, painters, and writers.