Stay in a 1927 villa in the milanese countryside,
which was a wedding gift from an aristocratic family
Stay experience
The experience of a noble family’s residence from the 1920s, renovated and decorated by the architect Barbiano di Belgiojoso in late Baroque style.
Where
Casatenovo (LC), situated about an hour from the center of Milan and the center of Como.
The rooms available
The villa has 19 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms. The rooms vary in size and elegance.
The environments of the villa
The villa is spread over two habitable levels. The ground floor features an access gallery, a central living room, and two side sitting rooms; two library rooms, a bathroom, a dining room with a large kitchen. The first floor, on the other hand, consists of a series of bedrooms, some with private bathrooms and others with bathrooms in the corridors.
Some rooms are noble, historically used by the adults of the family, while others are smaller, once dedicated to the family’s children. Next to the villa, there is also a rustic courtyard, with cobbled flooring, once used by the farmer and the groom, featuring a sitting room and a series of smaller, simpler bedrooms. Surrounding the villa is a private park of 18,000 square meters.
The history of the villa
Villa Mapelli Mozzi was built around the mid-1800s on the remains of an ancient medieval convent, which was later transformed in the 1500s into a farm for the religious institution. The construction of the residence was in line with the 19th-century development of pleasure villas in the Milanese countryside and was lived in by both noble families and wealthy bourgeois.
In 1927, it was purchased by the Mapelli Mozzi family and was given as a summer residence to the family’s heir, who had married Mrs. Feltrinelli. During those years, the 19th-century villa was completely renovated by architect Barbiano di Belgiojoso, who managed to recover a late 18th-century style while equipping the house with comforts typical of the 1920s. In particular, he provided each noble room with a comfortable bathroom.
Today, the residence has been further renovated and adapted to contemporary needs while still maintaining the historic layout of the rooms, decorations, and furnishings of the past.
The history of the town where the villa is located
The origin of the town of Casatenovo dates to the year 1110. At that time, there was an important castle, expanded by the noble Casati family. The wealthy counts soon became involved in numerous medieval struggles, such as those between Guelphs and Ghibellines first, and then between the Milanese Visconti and the Republic of Venice.
All these wars transformed the town into a real fortification: even the numerous farmhouses that emerged in the countryside, inhabited by local lords, equipped themselves to be ready in case of attacks from bandits. Over time, not only peasants but also wealthy families began to settle in these beautiful lands: they built many “villas of delight,” houses where they could spend vacations in the “green Brianza.”
In the 1800s, numerous businesses and factories began to arise in Casatenovo, mainly linked to agri-food products, providing employment to the local inhabitants.
The services of the Villa
- a modern private swimming pool with an adjoining equipped area (mobile kitchen) for barbecues and/or pool parties;
- an organic vegetable garden;
- parking area in front of the villa;
- two historic libraries;
- a ping pong table;
- a usable historic billiard table;
- a five-a-side football field;
- a functioning historic kitchen.
Experiences related to the Villa (on request)
- italian and macrobiotic cooking classes with local organic products;
- yoga sessions and relaxation techniques in the villa’s park,
- referencing the exoticism trend of the past;
- high tea with the historical household services in the company of the villa’s owner;
- lunch or dinner in the historic dining room, served with historic dishes and utensils, based on early 20th-century Italian recipes;
- foraging in the fields surrounding the villa and tasting traditional dishes made with local plants and aromatic herbs;
- guided tours of other historic residences in the area, reflecting the 19th-century/early 20th-century fashion when hostesses met in the afternoon to converse and have snacks together;
- touring the Milanese countryside in vintage Italian cars.
The luxury of stay
Staying in an early twentieth century villa, still lived in by a noble family, in full respect of the Italian aristocratic style and tradition of the time. The villa, in fact, still retains rooms, furnishings, services, tablecloths and crockery from the past, to allow its guests to experience their stay with the same bon ton and elegance of a noble Italian family.
Exteriors of the Villa
Interiors of the Villa
Rooms
