Description
A residence whose story remained in the shadows for decades, like a jewel concealed within the folds of the lake’s landscape.
On Pallanza’s distinguished lakefront promenade—known among locals as “the avenue of old gardens”—lies a villa whose history was long familiar only to a narrow circle of people. A home of the Piedmontese elite, connected with prominent names in Italian architecture, landscape design and industrial artistry, it has been one of the most discreet private estates on Lake Maggiore.
Today, more than a century after its creation, it opens its story with grace and dignity.
At the turn of the 20th century (circa 1900–1905), the lawyer Antonio Casanova chose this site on the Pallanza waterfront with intention. He acquired land previously owned by Enrico Rovelli, one of Verbania’s key landscape masters. Rovelli entered regional history for his collections of camellias and rare plants, which shaped a kind of “green map” of the lakeshore.
On this land, Casanova built an elegant villa with eclectic architecture, Tuscan and Corinthian pilasters, strict symmetry and a raised façade oriented toward the lake.
From its earliest days, the residence was conceived as a harmonious union of architecture and landscape — its soul and defining principle.
In the mid-20th century, the villa acquired a new dimension — refined, cultural, almost museum-like. In 1952, its garden became the subject of a project by Piero Portaluppi, one of Italy’s most respected architects of the century, whose work shaped the architectural identity of Milan’s elite.
The Portaluppi Foundation archives record: “Giardino di Villa Casanova Scotti, Verbania, 1952.”
Portaluppi transformed the garden into a carefully orchestrated space: diagonals drawn through century-old trees, light filtering beneath magnolias, and sightlines guiding the eye toward the water. This was not mere landscaping — it was spatial direction. The garden became the villa’s second façade, its refined mirror.
Meanwhile, just a few kilometers away, one of Italy’s most significant industrial stories was unfolding. In 1919, Alfonso Bialetti opened an aluminum workshop in Crusinallo. A decade later, in 1933, he created the Moka Express — the iconic octagonal coffee maker that gave Italy global leadership in domestic design. It was the first device that allowed people to make “bar-quality coffee at home,” and became one of the major icons of 20th-century industrial design, now displayed in MoMA and the Triennale di Milano.
After the war, his son Renato Bialetti continued the legacy — a vivid representative of a new era of Italian entrepreneurship. He introduced the region’s first outdoor advertising billboards dedicated to a household product — a bold, pioneering and completely unprecedented step at that time. This marketing experiment entered history as one of the earliest examples of street advertising in the home-appliance industry, and the Bialetti brand became a global symbol of Italian ingenuity.
In regional landscape-protection documents, the name Bialetti appears next to Casanova–Scotti, marking the villa as a historically significant residence. Thus, the estate becomes part of the brand’s heritage — known from Milan to New York.
Here, on the lakefront, three great lines of Italian identity intersect:
the intellectual refinement of Antonio Casanova,
the cultural expressiveness of Portaluppi,
and the industrial genius of the Bialetti family.
Today, the villa is far more than an elegant residence with a private darsena for a yacht. It is part of an officially recognized historical ensemble, listed in regional landscape documents as “one of the most significant estates on the Suna–Pallanza shoreline.”
A home with a Portaluppi garden.
A home rooted in Rovelli’s landscape tradition.
A home inscribed in the history of global design.
A home where three centuries have left their lines, like artists painting on a single canvas.
Such residences cannot be created anew.
They can only be held, safeguarded — and woven into one’s legacy.
A World-Class Architectural and Landscape Estate
Beyond its historical significance, the residence is one of the largest private compounds on Lake Maggiore.
Built area: over 1,826 sqm
Private grounds: more than 24,000 sqm of landscaped gardens, parkland and wooded areas.
The estate includes seven separate structures, among them:
• the main villa, with two above-ground floors, a mansard, an attic, and a substantial lower level (technical rooms, taverna, wine cellars, laundry);
• the gatehouse at the main entrance;
• the gardener’s house, a charming independent villa set deeper in the park;
• a glass-enclosed historic conservatory;
• a building for offices and garages;
• service and auxiliary facilities.
The principal façade faces south, executed in strict symmetry, softened only by a terraced wing. The grand salons of the ground floor are interconnected by wide doorways and open onto a magnificent terrace overlooking the lake, from which a double staircase descends into the park.
The grounds host a century-old botanical park with azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, magnolias and ancient maples.
A private underground passage connects the main garden to the waterfront park and the large darsena, providing direct and secure access to the lake — a privilege enjoyed by very few estates on Lake Maggiore.
Tennis courts, swimming pools, restaurants, boutiques and medical and sports facilities are all within walking distance, offering a rare combination of privacy and convenience.
Disclaimer: The information is purely indicative and is in no way attributable to a contractual obligation. All data is subject to verification before starting any form of compromise.
Energy Performance Certificate (APE) not available, delivered to the deed.
