A cluster of five mountains like ancient trusting friends encompasses Lake Como with tales to tell. They tower to the horizon in a domineering maze of peaks, deep irregular valleys and crusted sheer-sided facings. Deeply sculptured from wind and rain and often cloud-covered, they stand like faithful world-worn sentinels. Tagged the Pre-Alps, the mountains cast…

Villa Melzi d’Eril is elegantly placed on the waterfront of Lake Como amid a rare garden,  just 31 miles from Milan in Lombardy, Northern Italy. In the early 19th century, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, vice president of the Italian Republic founded by Napoleon, envisaged the villa as a summer retreat. It is accompanied by a family…

Real estate experts all say the three most important factors in choosing a property, particularly a second home, are: location, location, and location. With our ability to travel to the other side of the globe in a matter of hours, a second home can be anywhere. However, some practical issues need to be considered, such…

We never considered visiting Lago di Como on our many trips to Italy, assuming it would be prohibitively expensive to hobnob on the same exclusive waterway as George Clooney, Sting, and Sir Richard Branson. Because we were traveling in August, cooling off in the shadow of the Alps before flying home from Milan—only an hour…