Photography by Francesco Arena
Settled in a large gulf near Tremezzo, Villa Sola Cabiati quietly observes the waters of Lake Como. The original building dates back to the sixteenth century, the work of the Dukes Del Carretto, its owners until the eighteenth century, when it became the summer residence of the Serbelloni Dukes. Its elegant architecture, complemented by gardens in the Italian style, consists of a large central body with two exquisite side wings designed by Duke Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni. It was he who changed its late baroque style so that the house would reflect canons of neoclassicism.
In addition to these wings, he added the central staircase, the curved tympana, the marble balconies and the blue painted shutters that mirror the water of the lake. At the top of the villa is emblazoned with the coat of arms of the Serbelloni family while the entrance porch bears the engraved motto ‘villulae quietem’, which sums up the essence of this residence, rising as it does in a setting of unrivalled natural beauty. The property passed to the Busca family on the marriage of Luisa Serbelloni to the Marquis Ludovico Busca, and thence in 1871, to the counts of Sola Cabiati, to whom it belongs to this day.
The three halls on the piano nobile, the entrance hall, the living room, and the dining room are frescoed, and further ornamented by the stucco work of Muzio Canzio. Still on this floor is the central hall, reached by the scalone d’onore, or the grand stairway of honour, and which is decorated with remarkable frescoes by Francesco Conegliani of the Milanese Tiepolo school, depicting a pictorial cycle from Virgil’s Aeneid.
On the uppermost floor can be found the rooms of Parini and of Abbot Frisi, tutors to Gian Galeazzo. It was in fact Parini, during his stay here from 1754 to 1762, who dubbed the villa ‘La Quiete’, as a most serene refuge for the mind and spirit.
Today such an heritage of regal luxury houses a unique occasion to experience a truly extraordinary lakeside vacation, available for Grand Hotel Tremezzo guests only. The Grand Hotel is a symbol of the warmest Italian hospitality and the place-to-be on Lake Como to enjoy the flavors of a real vacation while experiencing the decadent past, staying in one of the most beautiful Villa of Lake Como, without missing the utmost comfort.