Architecture
Villa Fontanelle
A yellow villa waits at the water’s edge, abandoned—until Gianni Versace arrives with hundreds of oil paintings and a guest list featuring Madonna and Princess Diana. Subtle, it was not.
Why it is worth the detour
Gianni Versace rescued this abandoned 19th-century villa and transformed it into a deeply personal retreat filled with paintings, antiquities and classical references. Its glamorous guest list helped turn Lake Como into a destination for the fashion world.
Villa Fontanelle is a historic villa on Lake Como, once owned by Gianni Versace who restored it to a neoclassical masterpiece. It is known for its stunning gardens and illustrious guest list, making it a hidden gem in the fashion world.
The people behind this address
Documented connections, not celebrity trivia.
Gianni Versace
Versace restored the neglected villa and used it as his art-filled Lake Como retreat.
Roy Strong
The British garden historian and designer created the villa's landscaped gardens for Versace.
What else is close by
The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.
1.0 km
Villa d’Este
It’s 1925, and Alfred Hitchcock is filming The Pleasure Garden beside Lake Como. By then, this villa has already played a cardinal’s retreat, a queen’s residence and a grand hotel. Cinema is simply its next act.
1.4 km
Villa Passalacqua
It is 1831, and Vincenzo Bellini is staying here with La sonnambula taking shape. Long before the celebrity-hotel era, Passalacqua was already collecting formidable guests.
1.5 km
Villa Roccabruna and the Giuditta Pasta Estate
A soprano holds court by the lake while Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, Manzoni and Stendhal pass through her orbit. Giuditta Pasta’s estate was Lake Como’s operatic salon long before it became a luxury resort.
1.7 km
Villa Erba
It is 1972, and Luchino Visconti is back in his childhood summer house with an unfinished film. Villa Erba has become an editing room—and cinema is not finished with the place yet.
2.9 km
Volta Lighthouse in Brunate
Lake Como lies roughly 500 metres below you; above you is a lighthouse named for Alessandro Volta. Brunate does enjoy the top-floor view.
3.1 km
Marenghi Park and the Pertugio Spring
In 1785, Carlo Amoretti disappeared into the Pertugio cave while Volta stayed above gripping the rope. The spring they identified is still collected here—under a cover most people could walk straight past.
Walk it with the stories
This address is one stop among many. Our routes and quests link them into a walk that makes sense on the ground.