Lago Como from Villa Balbianello

While many visitors to Lago Como head for the more famous and more accessible Villa Carlotta, perhaps the quintessential villa on Lago Como is Villa Balbianello near Lenno.  Its location is simply stunning, so stunning in fact that it was used as a location for one of the Bond movies!

Library at Villa Balbianello

The villa was built in the late 1700′s for Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini as a summer retreat.  During the 1800s, the Visconti family acquired the villa and used it as a summer “salon”.  After the family died out, the villa was abandoned for about 39 years and the buildings fell into a state of neglect.  Then, Butler Ames, an American military officer, purchased and renovated the villa and its garden.  In 1974, the property was sold to Guido Monzino, a prominent Milanese businessman.  He was also an explorer and adventurer.  The top floor of the villa is a museum containing artifacts and mementos of his expeditions including one to the North Pole in 1971 and another in 1973 when he led the first Italian expedition to climb Mount Everest.  Upon his death in 1988, the villa was left to the Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano, the National Trust of Italy.

Gardens at Villa Balbianello

The villa is easy to reach:  you can go by ferry, car or train to Lenno and then walk along the lake either to the villa itself or to the water taxi dock from which you take a boat to the lake entrance.  A tour includes the grounds, the library (a separate building) and the villa itself including the expedition museum on the top floor.  The villa is spectacularly situated on a rocky promintory and the gardens are lovely, as are the views.  The villa is not open as often as Villa Carlotta so it is important to plan your visit at a time when it is accessible.  It is well worth it!