Villa del Balbianello hosts civil and symbolic wedding ceremonies, aperitifs and dinners for up to 130 guests, as well as company meetings, incentive groups, presentations and film or advertising shoots. The villa stands at the tip of the Lavedo headland in Tremezzina, on the western shore of Lake Como, and belongs to FAI, the Italian National Trust, which opens it to the public and rents its spaces for private events.
Seminars and company events
FAI lists business meetings, incentives and presentations among the uses of the villa, alongside film and advertising productions. Company groups use the same terraces and loggias as private parties, so the format suits a meeting followed by an aperitif or dinner rather than a long residential seminar. The largest covered option combines the loggia with the outdoor space next to it for 100 guests.
Weddings and receptions
The villa offers civil or symbolic wedding ceremonies, then aperitifs or dinners for up to 130 guests on the lake terrace. Ceremonies can take place in the Loggia Durini, which holds 80 to 100 guests with a maximum of 60 seated. Wedding photo shoots in the villa and garden are a paid service and must be booked in advance.
Rooms and capacities
The Lake Terrace covers 240 square meters and seats 130 for dinner. The Loggia Durini, 60 square meters, takes 80 to 100 guests for a ceremony, 60 of them seated. A second listed loggia space of 90 square meters seats 75 for dinner, or 100 guests when its interior and exterior, 170 square meters in all, are used together. The Camphor Terrace, 80 square meters, takes 100 guests for a buffet aperitif. The villa does not offer bedrooms.
History and setting
A Franciscan convent stood on the headland from the 13th century. From 1787 Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini turned it into a retreat for study and conversation, and carved the motto "Fay ce que voudras" into the floor of the portico by the small harbor. The villa later belonged to families linked to the Risorgimento, the Porro Lambertenghi and the Arconati Visconti, then to Marie Peyrat and the American general Butler Ames. In 1974 it was bought by Guido Monzino, the explorer who led the first Italian expedition to the summit of Everest. He left it to FAI, which has managed it since 1988. Inside are his collections and a small museum of his expeditions. The loggia, covered with creeping fig and set with a compass rose in its floor, holds the Music Room and the library of mountaineering and geography books. The terraced garden is known for its clipped trees, including a holm oak pruned into an umbrella shape.
Getting there
Cars cannot reach the villa. Guests walk 1 km from Lenno on a path that climbs and is partly gravel, about 25 minutes, or arrive by taxi boat from the Lido di Lenno. Paid parking is available in Lenno on Via Comoedia, with more on Via Diaz and Via Silvio Pellico. Bus C10 runs from Como to Lenno, and Trenord trains from Milan reach Como Lago station. Traffic and parking can be difficult on summer weekends, so allow extra time.
