Neo-classical villa on a private lake

The villa is a two-bedroom neo-classical villa dressed in pale pink, one of two romantic pavilions that face each other across a private lake filled with lotuses and water lilies, in the wooded hills above Lake Maggiore in Piedmont.

Dressed in pale pink with a neo-classical structure, the house is one of two souls that look out onto a private lake filled with lotuses and water lilies. Large french windows open onto flower-covered patios lit by iron lamps, where reserved and somewhat secret tables are set among the greenery. Furnished with grace and romanticism, the villa alternates between muted colours and the stronger tones of natural greens.

The living room has the simplicity of a house that has always been lived in and the grandeur of a Renaissance painting. Surrounded by niches and neo-classical vases, the octagonal salon overlooks the patio and the lake shore, and is made for summer evenings, winter mornings, aperitifs and long dinners alike. The veranda, used as a dining room, is camouflaged in nature inside and out: flowers and leaves chase each other among the vine leaves and across the painted walls, decorated with the same foliage.

The two bedrooms are quietly theatrical, one in Prussian green and one in pink, each with its own grand bathroom. One is finished in mottled black marble with gold fittings and holds a small sky of stars overhead; the other opens through the green bedroom to a marble and gold en-suite. Bookshelves line the walls, toile de Jouy dresses the beds, and every window frames water, statues or trees.

Outside, a four-thousand square metre circle of water, fed by a natural spring from the river Ticino, is the heart of the garden. Lotus flowers, water lilies, camellias, rhododendrons and hydrangeas crowd the banks; a private boat waits to be rowed across to the sister pavilion, and rock-carved pools and an outdoor stone shower sit among the trees. From the large veranda, guests watch birds feed in the surrounding branches and ducks glide across the lake.

For all its seclusion, the property sits just five minutes from Lake Maggiore and around half an hour from Stresa and the Borromean Islands, with Milan Malpensa airport only twenty-eight kilometres away. The relais is run with a light, personal touch: breakfast with freshly baked bread and daily housekeeping are included, while fresh juices and a private chef for lunches and dinners can be arranged on request.