Villa Erba
The "Villa Antica" and Luchino Visconti, the “muse” and the Director
“Happy days by the Lario. Making plans with my brothers when, and right on cue, the storm would break. Frustrated, we would stay silent, pressed against the windows already streaked with rain. Sometimes we would sleep on the grass, in the afternoon lethargy amidst the chirping of crickets and cicadas. In the evening, we would present our sleepy faces to our parents. Then autumn would come, and we kids would be sad about the reopening of school.”
This is what the director Luchino Visconti wrote reminiscing about Villa Erba, his family’s property and his childhood summer residence. Though never featured in his films, it served as inspiration for the atmospheres and settings he created.
Built between 1898 and 1900 at the behest of Luigi, brother and heir of Carlo Erba, one of the leading pharmaceutical industrialists of the time, the Villa was inherited by his daughter Carla. In Cernobbio, she married Duke Giuseppe Visconti di Modrone, mother and father of the director who took cello lessons here and happily roamed among the trees.
Among the most important historic residences on Lake Como, the main building, the Villa Antica, features imposing volumes and monumental architectural and decorative lines. In this place, in 1972, Visconti completed the editing of the film Ludwig, the last of his famous “German trilogy.” It is said that, suffering from serious health issues, he had a fully equipped editing room built here, becoming a meeting place for screenwriters and technicians. This choice was driven by his deep connection to this residence, his cherished place, his Neverland.
** Villa Erba virtual tour, a project never realized before for this dwelling.
Exclusively for Orticolario, the voice of Anna Gastel, granddaughter of Luchino Visconti, will guide you through the history of the Villa and Luchino’s family, while “strolling” through the rooms following a numbered itinerary among unpublished historical and architectural curiosities and archival images.
The Transformation of the Place
In 1986, following the sale of a large portion of the land, a congress and exhibition complex was added to the park. Designed by architect Mario Bellini, its transparent structure is reminiscent of 19th-century “winter gardens.”
The Garden and its monumental trees
The park of Villa Erba is unique: it is the only one that is entirely flat. It is an “English-style” garden, designed around masses, volumes, and the chromatic effects offered by groups of monumental trees.
This design approach characterized the garden from the beginning, and it was respected by the various owners who were undoubtedly captivated by the unique spectacle of the large foliage of linden trees, hackberries, bald cypresses, and majestic plane trees, swayed by the winds and lake breezes.
This charm transforms throughout the seasons: from the bare tree structures of the winter months, to the different shades of spring green, the dark and very shady summer foliage, and the reds and yellows of autumn.
Following a 19th-century design approach, the park features wide grassy and wooded areas, separated by winding paths leading to the lake and the villa, and various statues with mythological themes, created by the sculptor Mazzuchelli.
Among the Botanical Beauties of Villa Erba
The bald cypresses form a long avenue parallel to Via Regina, starting from the main entrance.
A truly unique group of these trees stands in the large lawn in front of the Villa Antica: six incredible specimens that create a magical place.
Between the Villa Antica and the lake there is an amazing series of ball-shaped boxwoods, deliberately intended to mediate between the residence and the lake basin. And the plane tree, among the characteristic varieties of Lake Como? Majestic is the specimen that shades the pier of the boat dock.
DURING ORTICOLARIO
Guided tours of the Villa Antica
Timetable
From Friday, October 4, to Sunday, October 6, 2024, from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM and from 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM, with tours departing every 30 minutes
Booking
On-site, at the ingresso Leoni (Villa Antica)
Contribution
€5.00 per person, to be donated to the Amici di Orticolario Fund for local associations
