Villa Ortensia Wonderful Home on Lake Shore

You have always dreamt of a holiday home directly on Lake Como shore, near Bellagio, Menaggio, Varenna, the beautiful triangle. Villa Ortensia is yours! A wonder of a house situated directly on the lake side. It has a small courtyard, garden and spacious terrace for relaxing and outside breakfast-dining. The house was built in the 16th century as part of the Andreani Castle and ever since embellished and modernised. We still live part of the year here ourselves and have owed the house now for three generations. Living space (100 square metres) is divided over two floors, beautifully furnished partly with family antiques. Bathrooms and kitchens are modern and fully equipped. It has a living room with fireplace and dining area, three double bedrooms, one single room (with extra sofabed), two showerrooms . Milan is the capital of Lombardy and a world famous centre for all kind of trade fairs. At 40 km is lake como and Corenno Plinio is on the north-east coast line 30 km passed Lecco. Wealthy milanese families in the 18-19th century built their summer residences on lake como, to get away from the warm and humid town. A lot of the villas and their parks today are open to the public, such as Villa Monastero ( Varenna) , Melzi ( Bellagio,) Carlotta ( Tremezzo) and Balbianello in Lenno. From Varenna you can reach all these villa's by boat. Lake como has a temperate climate due to its sheltered position at the south side of the alps, springtime starts in april and autum ends in october. July is the hottest ( 30C) month but a lovely afternoon breeze makes it very pleasant. Winters are bright and sunny and the mountain tops are covered with snow and in the higher valleys around the lake we do crosscountry skiing , ski resorts for alpine skiing are at 90 mins by car ( St.Moritz- Madesimo) Lake Como has lots of historical places, buildings, churches , it was already known to the romans and celts. Watchtowers along the lake testimony of their alertness against invaders!. Corenno Plinio = Castle of Andreani with a cluster of houses around it. The castle is built on a rock and the houses around it are built onto the sloping rock, so lots of steep footpaths and steps. To reach villa Ortensia from the car park you have to go down a good footpath and a flight of steps from the garden down into the house. Corenno Plinio has no shops, no restuarants, it is a very quiet hamlet which has the same atmosphere as in the middle ages, I guess. For shopping, restaurants etc you depend on Dervio ( 1km), Varenna ( 11km), Colico ( 10 km) Lots to discover: Lecco at 30 km is the main city and known to every italian as the story of a famous "study" book " Promessi Sposi" happened here the waterfall "orrido" of Bellano is a thundering watermass in a very narrow canion. "Fiume Latte" is the shortest stream in Italy which appears in springtime out of a grotto and disappears after 600 m, never to be seen again. Varenna is a well preserved coastal village with lovely shops and lake side restaurants, the ferry boat takes you to Bellagio, Menaggio ( and the rest of the lake , if you stay on the boat a full day). Chiavenna the old " chiave" for the passage between Italy and central Europe, has a wealth of historical buildings, th streets in the centre with their old portals and houses looking onto the river Mera are very distinctive. Abbazia di Piona: located in a beautiful position near Colico on a promontory separating the lake of Como from the lake of Piona was founded by the clunic monks in 11th century more over lake Piona is a resting place for migrating birds. Sailing and surfing schools in Dervio and Colico , and nice sandy beaches makes a stay on lake Como also very attractive for the young and active. ask for more our photo gallery! Keywords: Holidays House on Como lake