Villa Sola Cabiati, neoclassicist living at its best

He had it inscribed above the front door, as if to suggest that crossing this threshold will change your life, make your problems disappear, turn the sky blue once more and send your heart soaring. When he inherited this marvelous villa on Lake Como, Duke Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni still had fond memories of the summers he spent here as a boy. The phrase “Villulae quietem” came to him out of nowhere, and he adopted “the tranquility of a small villa” as its official motto. That was back in 1787, yet the phrase is as fitting as it ever was. Villa Sola Cabiati, still owned by the descendants of the Serbelloni family, offers our guests the beauty and serenity that was such a hallmark of the neoclassical period. Shall we stroll down to the jetty of the Grand Hotel Tremezzo? Board a vintage Riva motorboat for the short cruise along the Tremzzina coast to Villa Sola Cabiati? What better way than with the primary element of water to begin our tale of this historic and cultural gem…

Leaving the lake behind, we advance—grand wrought iron gates swinging open like a fairy tale—and cross the lovingly landscaped garden surrounding the villa, climb the stairs and enter the main hall. The walls and the ceiling are adorned with frescoes from the school of Tiepolo in Milan; there are tapestries, decorative plasterwork, imperial Chinese porcelain, Murano chandeliers, priceless musical instruments as far as the eyes can see. Inspired by the spirit of its heyday, the six splendid suites are as elegant as the staff is gracious, a full staff to make each day in this paradise a treasured memory. Everything is as it once was, the same white glove service we pride ourselves at the Grand, and the entire place, as of this year, open through the new year. For all of autumn and winter, guests can now experience the colorful and emotional splendor of Lake Como—and do so in one of the most elegant and extraordinarily well-preserved villas of the Lario.

Villa Sola Cabiati was originally built in the early 16th century at the behest of the Duchess of Carretto, then passed on to the Brentano family and later came into the hands of the Dukes of Serbelloni. Here in these hallowed halls a young Gian Galeazzo, born in 1744 in Milan, was taught by Giuseppe Parini, a tutor but above all a gifted poet, writer and one of the brightest and most creative minds of Italian Neoclassicism. It was Parini himself who christened the villa “La Quiete”. But who was this Gian Galeazzo? The man chroniclers of the day referred to as rebellious, intolerant and slightly spoiled, so notorious that many claim the “young gentlemen” in Parini’s poem Il Giorno, is none other than his former pupil! Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni was a cultured man, an officer and a diplomat who was known as the “republican duke” among his contemporaries, despite being a member of the aristocracy. Why a republican? Because in 1796, Gian Galeazzo, then general superintendent of the local militia, enthusiastically welcomed the French army to Milan and, on May 10 of the same year, gave Napoleon the keys to the city (as well as those to his palace at number 16 Corso Venezia!). The reception was so remarkable, in fact, that Gian Galeazzzo was sent to Paris in May 1796 to make the case to the emperor for Lombardy’s freedom. By all accounts, the Duke made quite an impression, winning over the French with his fervent patriotism and finally tasked with escorting Napoleon’s wife Joséphine de Beauharnais from the French capital to Milan. It wasn’t long before Serbelloni was appointed Italy’s ambassador in Paris. What remains of his experience? Nothing less than Napoleon and Joséphine’s marital bed, a little piece of history brought to the villa for safekeeping when the allies bombed Milan during the Second World War. It has been a prized possession of Villa Sola Cabiati ever since, making Villa Sola Cabiati a villa-museo of sorts, but also a villa-freschezza, and a villa-festa, for time spent in the centuries-old park and the outdoor pool have a revitalizing effect. Perhaps villa-incanto is best, as every window offers an enchanting view that starts on the rocky mountaintops, softens as it passes over the foliage of centennial trees, loses itself in the intricate tapestry of the Italianate garden and finally settles on the mottled surface of the lake.

As the 18th century drew to a close, Carlo Amoretti—agronomist, naturalist, indefatigable traveler and the first to translate the works of Johan Winckelmann, the patron saint of Neoclassicism, into Italian—wrote these words: “Tremezzo has many pleasant and glorious villas, the Villa Clerici, or Sommariva, then the villas of the Brentanos, Mainonis and the De Carlis, but La Quiete of the Serbellonis surpasses them all.” Yes, the tranquility of this small villa endures, when nature is in full bloom in summer, but also in winter. When the snow is falling outside, and the chef delights our guests with his homemade panettone. I suppose there is one final moniker missing: villa per essere felici. A place to be happy, together, forever.