Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni
Lake Como, Italy

Descending ancient stone steps that disappear into the chilly waters of Lago De Como I feel like the subject of a Dante Rossetti Pre-Raphaelite painting. Rain pelts my soft white terry robe as vapor billows from my mouth and nose. I look down to my feet flushed bright pink from cold lake water.

This is not the serene setting of my Great Aunt Eda’s Como oil painting which depicts a quiet sunny village set by a calm lake. Thick mist floats on the surrounding mountains. Storms have flooded the town of Como, and the lake is a veritable winter ocean even if it’s only early October.

Behind me, the warm yellow and white neo-classical Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni stands idly by. Sub-tropical palm fronds in the multi-level Italianate gardens dance for the wild wind. The scene could be a dramatic opera set or just Lago De Como off-season—I love it.

Two tourists in warm rain gear and protected with umbrellas look on in astonishment as I drop my robe. My husband leans against a stone rail and watches the scene with amusement. The water is freezing, but with my newfound audience there is no backing down. I walk timidly until the water laps at my thighs, and then plunge.

As the icy water steals my breath I wonder: would I have been better off doing my Triathalon training in the warm indoor pool? Not on your life.

I paddle thirty feet from the beach and follow the shoreline. My husband and the two tourists track me through the Serbelloni property, and past the curious patrons in the hotel’s restaurant.

The shore turns too rocky for my husband to follow, and I am alone in the chilly waters of Lago De Como. It is one of the few places that surpass the conjuring of the imagination. Enchanting little grottoes carved out of lakeside cliffs dot the shore. A statue of the Virgin Mary gazes downward; overgrown ivy surrounds her outstretched arms, and falls in the lake where it swishes on the stormy surface of the water.

Looking at a map of the region, Lago De Como looks like a set of legs, and the town of Bellagio forms what put crudely is the crotch. I am attempting to paddle from the left leg to the right, an area that quickly turns from privileged villas to primitive forests.

Thick Green conifers cast dark shadows on the angry water. It seems perfect that Theodore, king of the Goths made his home on this rocky promontory. This land was passed from invader to conqueror, and back. Before the Goths got hold of the land, Pliny the Younger built his two famous villas "Comedy" and "Tragedy" here.

What did Leonardo da Vinci think when he arrived at Villa Serbelloni to attend a wedding? He left a message written right to left that said, "These trips should be made in the month of May." Was this an endorsement?

Back in the 1500’s when he sailed to the villa, the shore would have been covered in thick foliage of pines, cypresses, oaks, chestnuts, and of course olives. Hazel abounded in the shade, and in the sun trees of oranges, lemons, quince and pomegranates were laden with the ripe fruit. I can hardly imagine he left without being charmed. Finished with my cool autumn swim I am charmed and chilled as a wrap my rain soaked terry robe around my shoulders and head for my luxurious lake-view room.

During the Belle Epoque tourists at the villa dressed and acted in a style completely foreign to the modern day traveler. Not unlike today’s patrons of the hottest nightclubs, would be guests waited in Lucerne for weeks to get a room at the hotel. Once they had the sought after room they stayed—at least a month, sometimes two, maybe even the whole season.

Although rooms at the villa now sport satellite TV, telephones, and minibars the grandeur of days past can’t be missed. Frescoes and trompe l’oeil paintings adorn high ceiling suites. As I walk across the Persian carpet, pull back the heavy fabric drapes, and stare across the lake I’m a time traveler. The formal Italian Garden with its Camellia, banana, and lemon trees—bougainvillea and aloes, they all preside over the same lake that Villa Serbelloni builders Count and Countess Frizzoni called home.

Villa Serbelloni historian Gianfranco Bucher describes the relationship between proprietor and guest: "The director was an undisputed authority who, while he was within the walls of his temple, did very much as he pleased. It was he who made the rules and guests were expected to obey; guests were expected to be grateful for having been admitted the delights of the grand hotel. In those days, the reception desk turned away ladies who presented themselves in wide-brimmed hats as these were deemed to be a sign of loose morals."

Imagine the cherry red Bugatti’s pulling into the villa gates. The counts, tycoons, and Prussian field marshals who rented entire rooms just to lay out their clothes. It wasn’t uncommon for travelers to arrive with their maids in tow, even though the hotel had a perfectly fine staff.

The excess of the Belle Epoque ended the day that Mussonlini’s men who used the hotel for a barracks tore up the parquet floor for firewood. The villa would miss the likes of Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Clark Gable and heiress Barbara Hutton and her husband Prince Trubeckoj.

When travelers returned times had changed, people didn’t stay for weeks on end. Like most travelers today I only stayed three days at the villa. But, as I ascend the stairs from my cold autumn swim I am happy for the experience of being lost in time for the days that I am at the villa.

Like any visitor in the last hundred years I wander from the hotel to the nearby village of Bellagio. After exploring the narrow and steep cobblestone back roads for a while I place myself under the promenade at a café.

Sipping my cappuccino and watching the rain strike the lake I glance to my right at the warm villa that oversees the lake and village of Bellagio. The Belle Epoque may be dead, but the Villa Serbelloni still brings to mind the halcyon days of travel.

Shannon Willitts Falk         April 2001

LINKS WITH ATTITUDE

To find out more about the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, or make a reservation click on this link.

For tourist information on Bellagio, including maps check this out.

For a complete guide of everything to do on Lago De Como click here—includes restaurants, tours, house and villa tours, even where to shop.