The western shore of Lake Como
Cernobbio · Moltrasio · Laglio · Carate Urio · Argegno
This is the shore where the lake is still wide and the road runs low, right on the water. From Cernobbio up to Argegno it is one historic villa after another, each with a garden dropping to its own jetty: here you buy the facade on the lake, not the square metres. The further up you go, the lower the price and the plainer the house — same water in front, less noble walls.
- How long it takes
- Malpensa 50 minMilan 53 minLugano 31 min
- What life is like
- Cernobbio is a village that works all year: market, pharmacy, schools, ferry. Argegno is the gateway to the Intelvi valley, ten minutes from the mountains. The golf courses at Villa d'Este and Monticello are within half an hour.
- Our listings
- 20 listings · typically 600 000 € – 3 800 000 € · 1–11 bedrooms
- Who it suits
- For those who want the historic villa on the water with a real village underneath it. And for anyone working in Switzerland: the border is closer than Milan.
- What I check before you travel to see it
- I look at who stands in front of you and who stands above. On the western shore the shade comes early in winter, and a neighbour adding a floor takes half your view. I check that at the land registry before you book a flight.
Another 14 properties in this area — I will send them on request.
The middle of the lake
Tremezzina · Griante · Menaggio · Bellagio · Lezzeno
The point where the lake splits into three arms and you can see one shore from the other. This is the postcard — Villa Carlotta, Balbianello, Bellagio opposite — and also the area with the most fine villas openly for sale. Here the ferry replaces the car: Menaggio to Varenna or Bellagio is a quarter of an hour on the water, against an hour by road around the lake.
- How long it takes
- Malpensa 85 minMilan 88 minLugano 43 min
- What life is like
- Menaggio has the eighteen-hole golf course, the hospital and a lakefront that is alive even in February. Tremezzina is quieter, made of parks and villas. North of here the wild part of the lake begins.
- Our listings
- 15 listings · typically 850 000 € – 4 400 000 € · 2–5 bedrooms
- Who it suits
- For people buying the family house rather than a weekend place: here you stay for months, not two nights.
- What I check before you travel to see it
- I check the jetty and the water rights. Around the middle of the lake many gardens reach the shore without any title to moor a boat. It is the thing people discover late, and the first thing I look at.
Another 9 properties in this area — I will send them on request.
The city of Como and the eastern shore
Como · Blevio · Torno · Faggeto Lario
The city itself and the first kilometres of the eastern shore. Como is the one place on the lake where you can live without a car: station to Milan, hospital, schools, shops, and the Swiss border ten minutes away. Just outside it, Blevio and Torno are the opposite — a narrow road, villas perched above the water, morning sun.
- How long it takes
- Malpensa 50 minMilan 55 minLugano 36 min
- What life is like
- From Como the train runs to Milan without changes; at Chiasso the Swiss network begins. In town there are real apartments, not only villas: this is the band where the lake is still affordable.
- Our listings
- 20 listings · typically 450 000 € – 4 200 000 € · 1–19 bedrooms
- Who it suits
- For those who want the lake and city life at once, and for anyone working between Milan and Ticino. The eastern shore suits those who want sun in the morning and quiet in the evening.
- What I check before you travel to see it
- I check parking and access. In Blevio and Torno many beautiful villas are reached by stairs with nowhere to leave the car. With a family and luggage that detail changes your life.
Another 14 properties in this area — I will send them on request.
The upper lake
Domaso · Gravedona · Colico
The northern end, where the lake turns into a fjord between mountains and the wind gets up every afternoon. This is the lake of sailors and kiters, not of period villas: here you buy air, water and space at prices the southern shore no longer has.
- How long it takes
- Malpensa 107 minMilan 99 minLugano 86 min
- What life is like
- The Breva wind arrives on schedule after lunch and fills the lake with sails. Colico is the rail junction for Milan and the Valtellina; the Madesimo slopes are close.
- Our listings
- 2 listings · typically 300 000 € – 5 000 000 €
- Who it suits
- For people who take the lake to actually live on it — boat, sail, mountains — and who do not need to be in Milan every week.
- What I check before you travel to see it
- I look at wind exposure and the shadow of the mountains. Here two houses a kilometre apart differ by two hours of winter sun.
The Como hinterland and Brianza
Appiano Gentile · Olgiate · Brianza · Valsassina
Ten kilometres inland from the water and the price changes category: for the cost of a lakeside flat you get a villa with a park. There is no view; there is land, a garage and an easy road.
- How long it takes
- Malpensa 45 minMilan 45 minLugano 45 min
- What life is like
- This is golf country — Monticello, Pinetina, Carimate — and the international schools of the Milan area. The motorways are all close, so is the airport.
- Our listings
- 6 listings · typically 650 000 € – 3 800 000 € · 3–6 bedrooms
- Who it suits
- For those who need a large house with a garden rather than a postcard: families who live here all year, not who come on holiday.
- What I check before you travel to see it
- I check what can be built around you. In Brianza an empty plot beside a villa can become a warehouse — I read the zoning plan before the deed, not after.
The Piedmont shore of Lake Maggiore
Stresa · Baveno · Verbania · Lesa · Cannero
The big lake — the Borromean islands and the nineteenth-century hotels. The difference with Como is simple: for the same money the house here is roughly twice the size, and Malpensa is fifty minutes away instead of an hour and a half. You pay less for fashion and more for space.
- How long it takes
- Malpensa 51 minMilan 73 minLugano 82 min
- What life is like
- Stresa and Baveno live on conferences and high-end tourism; Verbania is a real town with schools and a hospital. The botanical garden of Villa Taranto and the Borromean golf course are here.
- Our listings
- 17 listings · typically 1 200 000 € – 8 000 000 € · 3–10 bedrooms
- Who it suits
- For those who fly in often and want square metres, a park and the lake without paying for the Como name.
- What I check before you travel to see it
- I check the lakeside protection strip and the heritage restrictions. On Maggiore many historic villas are listed: you can renovate, but not everything, and I find out what before you commit.
Another 11 properties in this area — I will send them on request.
The Lombard shore and the Varese hills
Angera · Varese · Porto Ceresio · Valganna
The shore that faces the sunset, with the Varese hinterland behind it. This is the most convenient area in Italy for anyone who lives on planes: Angera to Malpensa is thirty-five minutes, Varese thirty-three. The lake here is less theatrical and considerably cheaper.
- How long it takes
- Malpensa 35 minMilan 58 minLugano 54 min
- What life is like
- Varese is a town of villas and gardens, with the Sacro Monte above it and the area's international schools nearby. Porto Ceresio already sits on Lake Lugano, half an hour from the Swiss centre.
- Our listings
- 11 listings · typically 1 000 000 € – 5 000 000 € · 3–11 bedrooms
- Who it suits
- For weekly commuters abroad, and for those working in Ticino who want Italian prices.
- What I check before you travel to see it
- I look at flight paths. Near Malpensa convenience is paid for in noise, and the difference between two hillsides is exactly that. I check it on site, not on a map.
Another 5 properties in this area — I will send them on request.
The Riviera di Ponente
Sanremo · Ospedaletti · Bordighera · Imperia · Alassio
Here the geography says something that surprises nearly everyone: from Sanremo, Nice is an hour away and Milan more than three. People who buy on the western Riviera do not live towards Italy, they live towards the Côte d'Azur — at Italian prices, with open sea in front instead of a lake.
- How long it takes
- Malpensa 214 minMilan 190 minNice 61 min
- What life is like
- Sanremo has two harbours, the casino and the flower market; Bordighera and Ospedaletti are quieter and more English. You swim from June to October and play golf in winter.
- Our listings
- 20 listings · typically 1 000 000 € – 2 800 000 € · 2–5 bedrooms
- Who it suits
- For those who want the sea and proximity to France: many of our clients here work in Monaco or Nice and sleep in Italy.
- What I check before you travel to see it
- I check sea access and the real distance to the beach. In Liguria 'sea view' and 'on the sea' are two different things, and there can be two hundred steps between them.
Another 14 properties in this area — I will send them on request.
The Riviera di Levante
Santa Margherita · Portofino · Rapallo · Lerici
The other half of Liguria, the one facing Tuscany. The coast here is steeper and greener: Portofino, the gulf of Tigullio, the Cinque Terre to the south. You pay for the name and for how hard it is to build — almost nothing new appears, which is why the little that reaches the market does not stay on it.
- How long it takes
- Malpensa 180 minMilan 125 minNice 215 min
- What life is like
- Santa Margherita and Rapallo live all year, Portofino only in summer. Milan is just under two hours away, and that is what fills the Tigullio at weekends: this is the Milanese sea, not the French one.
- Our listings
- 4 listings · typically 350 000 € – 15 000 000 € · 2–5 bedrooms
- Who it suits
- For those who want the sea close to Milan and accept summer traffic. And for those after a house that holds its value: the built stock here does not grow.
- What I check before you travel to see it
- I look at restrictions and car access. In the Tigullio many villas sit above flights of steps with no garage, and with the regional park above, extending the house or opening a driveway is usually not permitted.
