This watercolour captures Villa Erba, the grand 19th-century villa on Lake Como's western shore at Cernobbio. Built between 1898 and 1903 for Luigi Erba, brother and heir of pharmaceutical magnate Carlo Erba, the villa was designed to display the family's wealth and status. Architects Angelo Savoldi and Giambattista Borsani created a Renaissance Revival residence inspired by Galeazzo Alessi, with arcaded loggias on all four sides, a belvedere tower, and a grand staircase descending to the lake. The interiors feature frescoes by Ernesto Fontana and decorations by Angelo Lorenzoli. The villa sits within a historic park containing ancient cedar and magnolia trees, now managed alongside a modern congress centre designed by Mario Bellini.
Interesting facts...
The site was a Benedictine monastery from 966 AD until 1785, when Emperor Joseph II of Austria suppressed it during his reforms. The monastery gave Cernobbio its name — "cenobio" meaning monastery in Italian. Luigi Erba purchased the property in 1893 and demolished the existing villa to build his new residence. His daughter Carla Erba married Duke Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone, and their son Luchino Visconti spent his childhood summers here. The villa later inspired several of his film sets, and he returned to edit his masterpiece "Ludwig" in these rooms. The modern exhibition centre "Le Serre", added in 1988, was designed by architect Mario Bellini, inspired by the greenhouses of grand Lake Como villas. Villa Erba appeared in George Clooney's "Ocean's Twelve" (2004).
Location: Cernobbio, Lake Como, Italy