LENNO, Villa Balbaniello

Long before Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini fell in love with the promontory of Lavedo and had his splendid villa built there, a monastery of Franciscan monks stood here, probably erected between 1200 and 1300.

In 1787, a new residence was built in its place, which the prelate called Balbianello to distinguish it from the larger Balbiano residence he had previously purchased from Cardinal Gallio.

Over the next two centuries, the estate changed hands several times and inevitably underwent transformations. Everything you can admire today is mainly the work of the entrepreneur Guido Monzino, who completely renovated the villa, also changing the frescoes and furnishings, and fashioned the garden into the complex shapes that still characterize it today.

Monzino bought it in 1975 and, on his death in 1988, donated it to FAI, the Fondo Ambiente Italiano, together with a substantial bequest that would allow the structure and gardens to be maintained exactly as he had designed them....