While the setting and scenery are breathtaking, with the faces of Alpine mountains plunging directly through historic villages into the surface of the lake, Mercolini says the Lake Como lifestyle is the real attraction.
lake como
a legend in lombardy
These shores have attracted an A-list of leisure-seeking Europeans for centuries. D ER EK D U N C A N
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ach summer on the waterline of Italy’s Lake Como, the actor George Clooney hosts a changing coterie of actors, musicians, politicians, writers and designers at his Villa Oleandra residence. This informal mashup of personalities spend their time relaxing, boating and, more interestingly, sitting together for food and wine-fueled discussions that reach into the early morning hours. With all respect to the annual World Economic Forum held 150 kilometers away in Davos, these have to be the most fascinating conventions in the Alps. Such is a day in the life at Lake Como, a deep, 30-mile long glacial lake snug against the Swiss border in Italy’s northern Lombard region, where critical masses of wealth and celebrity are not just common but expected. Clooney’s summer visits here may have piqued global interest in Lake Como, but these shores have attracted an A-list of leisure-seeking Europeans for centuries. “Lake Como is one of the legendary destinations in Italy,” says Lorenzo Mercolini, Managing Director for Lake Como Sotheby’s International Realty as well as Milan Sotheby’s International Realty and Tuscany Sotheby’s International Realty. “Northern Europeans historically have always gone down to the northern Italian lakes, and Lake Como is one of the most spectacular of them all.” One of the most popular landmarks, Villa d’Este in Cernobbio—today one of the world’s most elite hotels—was built during the Renaissance in 1568 and became a palace for British
royalty in the early 19th century. The European elite have established magnificent seasonal homes here ever since, and in recent years international figures like Clooney and Richard Branson have made significant investments in lakeside villas. The result is an electric summer season. While the setting and scenery are breathtaking, with the faces of Alpine mountains plunging directly through historic villages into the surface of the lake, Mercolini says the Lake Como lifestyle is the real attraction. “If you have a property literally on the lake, a pied dans l’eau as they call it, you can take a boat and go to each little village and town that are each spectacular in their own right,” he says. “You can stop and have lunch and then go back across the lake to Bellagio and have your reparations there, then go back down for waterskiing or dinner—it’s something that is pretty unique.” Lake Como Sotheby’s International Realty opened in June 2013. Mercolini realized a presence there was needed when the Versace family sold Villa Fontanelle in 2008 and used London Sotheby’s International Realty to broker the deal. With an office already in Milan just an hour south, and with such high profile interest in lake property, expanding to Lake Como was the next logical step. The ornate villas and their star owners may garner most of the press, but the lake offers a variety of options in the quieter, more nature-oriented towns on the north end down through the southern sections near Menaggio and the villages of Bellagio, Laglio and Como
where the scene is more glamorous and active. Residences set back from shore but with panoramic views typically sell for €4-5 million ($5.3 to $6.6 million USD). Smaller two-story flats on the water can go for €1.5 to 1.7 million ($1.99 to $2.26 million USD). A wide variety of seasonal rentals are another valuable entrée into the market. Those who are in the market would do well to act soon. Real estate prices throughout Italy have fallen by up to 20-percent over the last five years, but according to Mercolini, “The general observation is there is a bottoming-out of prices right now and the slight sense that they soon may begin to rise. I think now would be an interesting time to consider purchasing.” The best way—perhaps the only way—for visitors and potential buyers to truly understand the magnetism of Lake Como is simply to come. Mercolini suggests his clients to get to know the lake, at the very least, through a summer seasonal rental. “It’s the kind of place where you can see some pictures on the internet or in magazines, but if you don’t go and experience it and live it, you won’t get the full grasp of what it is.” The cosmopolitan element, the stunning lake scenery, the ability to go from village to village, the cuisine and climate, the encompassing culture—“It just has that fame and that flair that other lakes can’t quite match,” Mercolini says. “It’s unlike any other waterfront destination.”
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