image

Grand Interiors

Villa Fogazzaro Roi

Photography by Francesco Arena

The spiritual home of the writer Antonio Fogazzaro, the rooms and corridors still exude the atmosphere of his literary masterpieces. It remains an intimate delight, and a quiet corner that seems to exist quite out of time.

image
image

On the Como side of Lake Lugano overlooking the wild nature of Ceresio, within a hanging garden leading to a large lakeside dock, Villa Fogazzaro Roi was one of the favourite places of the writer Antonio Fogazzaro. It once belonged to the parish of San Sebastiano and was acquired in the mid-nineteenth century by the Barrera family, that of Teresa, the mother of the writer. Many of the childhood memories of the writer are of this place. The atmosphere of the house is vividly evoked in the pages of his literary trilogy.

image

In the early twentieth century the property was transferred to the Fogazzaro family, which had recently become related by marriage to that of the Marquises Roi. The main body of the villa dates right back to the 16th century, with many additions having been made over time. The reception rooms were often lively places with guests bustling around the great hall, dubbed Siberia because of the enormous difficulty in heating it, and through to the Library, where there are to be found all the volumes closest to the heart of Fogazzaro and the Marquises Roi. Photographs, memorabilia and small objects of many kinds all reflect the living soul of the dwelling. Among the most evocative of the spaces in the house is the author’s writing room, the Alcove, which enjoys an incredible view, and where the writing desk of Antonio Fogazzaro can still be seen, along with his literary and personal annotations, some of which he even scratched onto of the edges of drawers.

image
image

In 1960 it was the great-great-grandchild of Fogazzaro, the Marquis Giuseppe Roi, known as Boso, who inherited the villa. In the fifties and sixties he carried out much restoration work and modernisation, extending the residence with the additions of a new dining room, study and bedroom. He also brought the rest of the house back to its former splendour, taking special care over Antonio Fogazzaro’s room, with its original and finely carved bed.

image

Many of the rooms were meticulously restored and provided homes for numerous antique furnishings, and objects and artworks that Marquis Roi brought back from his travels abroad as the result of his perennial quest for all kinds of antiques. In 2009 Marquis Roi passed the villa at Oria into the hands of the Italian national trust, the Fondo Ambiente Italiano - FAI then opened the building to the public. Among the more detailed provisions of the Marquis were ‘table-laying instructions for ten diners’, involving settings that rotated two elegant services to maintain a perfect continuum for the house’s renowned hospitality.

The villa has thus been run by the Fondo Ambiente Italiano - FAI since 2009 and can be visited by the public with opening times shown at www.fondoambiente.it. Outside normal opening times, the residence is open for guided tours reserved in advance and groups of up to 15 people.