Lake Maggiore | $1.15 million (995,000 euros)
A pentagon-shaped house with panoramic views
This custom-built home on a knoll in the countryside is just over two miles from Luino, a town with around 14,320 residents on the shores of Lake Maggiore, and just over three miles from the Swiss border. The lake is the second largest in Italy, at 82 square miles, and is divided evenly by the border between the Lombardy and Piedmont regions. It shares a northern border with the Swiss canton of Ticino. Luino’s Wednesday market, which features food, local products, household goods and apparel, is well known in the area.
The town is served by Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia, the rail service between Ticino and Lombardy. There is also a boat service connecting the town to other locations on the lake.
Size: 1,981 square feet
Price per square foot: $582
Indoors: This energy-efficient, two-bedroom house, built in 2021, was designed by Jacopo Mascheroni in the shape of a pentagon. The single-story home has open common areas and a circular skylight that maximizes the light. That, along with the all-white interior and the interior spirals, evokes the feel of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Large panels along the house’s exterior open outward, extending like the blades of a pinwheel, thus inspiring the home’s nickname, the “pinwheel house.” Floor-to-ceiling glass walls offer expansive views.
The primary bedroom is en suite. Access to the second full bathroom is through a hallway in the common area. The sleek custom kitchen is equipped with Miele appliances. A spiral staircase leads to the basement, which includes a utility room, storage and a large, flexible space that can be adapted for recreational use.
Outdoor space: 21,528 square feet of outdoor space.
Costs: Annual taxes range from $637 to $2,316 (€550 to €2,000), depending on if it’s used as a primary or secondary home and final calculations by the municipality.
Contact: Bart Steenken | Italy Sotheby’s International Realty | +39 0322 030110
Como | $1.47 million (1.27 million euros)
A duplex apartment in the center of Como
Once known as the City of Silk for its production of the textile, Como is now a renowned tourist destination on the southern end of the 56-square-mile lake of the same name, the third largest in Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Como province, with about 84,250 residents.
Long an enclave for nobility and wealthy families, Lake Como is ringed with historic villas and gardens. The lake’s western shore is home to Sacro Monte di Ossuccio, a UNESCO World Heritage Site noted for its pathway of 14 chapels completed in 1710. Local attractions include a lake villa and garden tour; the Lungolago Viale Geno hiking trail; and, on the lake’s promenade, the Tempio Voltiano, named for Alessandro Volta, the Como-born inventor of the electrical battery. There are also museums dedicated to the city’s silk history and Giuseppe Garibaldi, a key figure in Italian unification.
The city is well served by a year-round lake ferry system and regional railway service. The Como San Giovanni train station has connections to Milan and the Swiss towns of Bellinzona and Zurich. Milan Malpensa Airport is 29 miles southwest.
Size: 1,561 square feet
Price per square foot: $942
Indoors: This apartment is on the second floor of an eight-unit building dating to the beginning of the 20th century, and was fully renovated in 2017. The garret-style top floor features skylights and wooden ceiling beams and has an open format living room, kitchen and dining area, and a full bathroom with a washing machine and dryer. The compact, L-shaped kitchen, with a Lacanche cooking range, is separated from the living room by a counter that seats two.
Glass doors in the living room and kitchen provide access to the wraparound terrace. The two bedrooms and bathroom below can be reached from the internal staircase.
Outdoor space: The 194-square-foot wraparound terrace offers lake views.
Costs: The municipal property tax is approximately $1,737 (€1,500), and the condominium fees are $1,390 (€1,200) annually.
Contact: Michele Torres | Engel & Völkers Cernobbio| +39 031 513099
Menaggio | $1.33 million (1.15 million euros)
A country home with gardens and a view of Lake Como
This one-story house is part of a complex of 13 similar villas situated near Menaggio, a former walled city on the west side of Lake Como. The town, with around 3,330 residents, is famed for its lakeshore promenade, grand resort hotels and the Cadenabbia Golf Club, founded in 1907. The Menaggio International Guitar Festival, which is in its 17th year, takes place every August, drawing musicians representing numerous genres from around the world.
There is ferry service across the lake to Varenna, home to less than 1,000 people, and south to Bellagio, a village of 3,820 often called the Pearl of Lake Como.
Size: 2,045 square feet
Price per square foot: $651
Indoors: The house features three bedrooms and three bathrooms. The living room and dining area are open format, while the kitchen, with white, streamlined cabinetry, is separate. The two double bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms, with French doors overlooking the garden. The living room has a wood-burning fireplace with built-in storage for logs, multi-paned windows offering lake and mountain views and doors opening to the covered porch.
An external pathway connects to an annex behind the main house that includes a bedroom and a bathroom, as well as storage and utility areas.
Outdoor space: 5,382 square feet of terraced gardens and a 377-square-foot covered portico.
Costs: The municipal property tax is $2,200 (€1,900).
Contact: Ivan Zanetic | Engel & Völkers Cernobbio |+39 031 513099
The post $1.5 Million Homes in Italy’s Lake Region appeared first on New York Times.
