La Foleia

A magical place where nature makes us feel part of a whole

La Foleia is a special, recently renovated destination. “Foleia” is the latin word for “follia” which translates into folly, madness. It was first imagined, then realized with art, courage and determination. Once an oak forest, it became a property with a 4000 sqm circle of water filled with a private, natural spring from the Ticino river. On the lake’s two opposite shores are two mirrored houses; one has an octagonal plan, with French windows that frame the water and the statues that adorn its edges from the living room. The other, a neoclassical pavilion, with large windows that open onto a stairway that accompany you into the lake. Around it, like curtains adorning the edges of your home, an unmissable variety of trees, plants and flowers, a secret, unimaginable garden, that can’t even be fathomed from the gate outside.

Dressed in pale pink with a neoclassical structure, Villa Ottagonale is one of two souls that looks out onto the lake filled with lotuses and water lilies. Large french windows open onto the flower-covered patio illuminated by iron lamps on reserved and somewhat secret tables. Furnished with grace and romanticism, it alternates between muted colours and the stronger tones of natural greens. 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 the interior walls, decorated with the same foliage. The living room has the simplicity of a house that has always been lived in and the grandeur of a Renaissance painting, where charm is the essential element that conquers and keeps its promises.

The villa has two bedrooms, one in a Prussian green and one pink, with two grand, momentous bathrooms. The one in mottled black marble even contains a small sky of stars. The living room, surrounded by niches and neoclassical vases, overlooks the patio and the lake shore, and is perfect for summer evenings, winter mornings, aperitifs and dinners. The large veranda, surrounded by flowers and plants, is a wonderful dining room from which to admire nature, birds feeding in the surrounding trees and ducks swimming across the lake.

Villa Padiglione is the lake’s other soul, leaning against a stairway that gently descends into the water, amidst vases and stone balls that adorn its edges. A grand hall, frescoed with the colours of perpetual summer, is set between magnificent French windows looking out onto the patio and with its back covered by a warm and welcoming fireplace. The rooms, with sloping ceilings and a large library, make it an elegant refuge where one can enjoy the spectacle of the fruit trees, flowers and statues that envelop the house like a gentle protection.

The pavilion consists of a marvelous frescoed living room with a fireplace and windows opening onto the patio in front of the lake where you can sit and watch the lotus flowers, water lilies and multicoloured ducks and where you can enjoy lunches and dinners with the cypresses, as gentle sentinels. Two rooms with dormer windows, coloured with soft shades and warm woods, each have a simple, light bathroom, with washbasins set in front of large windows framing flowers and statues.

Along the garden’s highest path, in a clearing overlooking the lake and, further on, the wisteria tunnel bordering the opposite shore, is the wellness area consisting of two natural rock pools, a Finnish sauna and an outdoor shower. The natural pools are equipped with whirlpools and heated for winter. The antique oak Finnish sauna is the perfect complement to your relaxation time. On request, you may also enjoy tailor-made wellness treatments and massages.

A personal chef on site will be available for your exclusive dining experiences, ready to prepare refined, local cuisine upon request with carefully selected products from nearby gardens, organic farms and local grocers to give you the most authentic, wholesome experience. There are various places in the property where you can enjoy these delicacies, from the patios, to the veranda, to the large hall.

Enjoy Lake Maggiore and your stay at La Foleia, where the art of reception and hospitality meet the charm of history and beauty of a timeless location.