Villa K2

A Timeless Landmark by Carlo Mollino

Famed for its about-to-take-flight profile, this architectural gem is a temple to design. Created in 1953 by Carlo Mollino and lived in by the same family ever since, the property’s defining feature is its cantilevered section, elevated and seemingly ready to launch from its two aviation-inspired pillars facing the lake.

Every bit the mid-century modern masterpiece with its interior clad in rich wood panels, rectilinear volumes, and an avocado-toned kitchen, the well preserved “rustic space age” home featured a radical-for-the-times open-plan dining room-kitchen area still in place as designed today, along with five bedrooms across its two stories. Mollino designed the home’s every detail, from its architectural fastenings to its décor features and furniture, including custom beds and bedside tables, wardrobes, cabinetry and notable individual pieces, some of which have found their way into private collections and fetched small fortunes at international auctions.

One such famed design was Mollino’s monolithic plywood chair hailed by Gio Ponti for its elaborate craftsmanship and innovation. An optical illusion, the flowing chair was ultimately vetoed when the property’s then homeowner, Luigi Catteneo, for whom Mollino created the villa, ordered the suspension of the chair’s production due to its astronomical cost.

Surrounded by a garden on three lakefront hectares, the villa has a vast upper-level terrace that runs the length of its façade, and also features a caretaker’s house and former stable, now used as a shed. An often overshadowed rear terrace is built of stone with massive walkways extending from its patio and leading into the rolling green park.

Around

Located in Agra and surrounded by Lake Maggiore’s fertile vegetation, the house overlooks the shimmering lake’s Lombard shore, about 20 minutes’ drive from the village of Luino. Lake Maggiore, Italy’s second largest lake and the largest in southern Switzerland, has long welcomed Milan’s aristocratic and well-heeled, and remains a favored holiday destination for urban Italians who gather on its waterfront beaches at Caldè, Laveno, Cannero and Connobio. Cannobio is postcard pretty, a stunning waterfront community with a lakeside promenade. And the shimmering southern Alpine lake’s islands, the Isolas Bella, Madre and Borromeo draw their own avid crowds, who access the islands via gleaming pleasure boats, many vintage and dashing, that are as shining and pretty to look at as the landscapes.

The lake’s surrounding mountainous region is filled with footpaths of varying difficulty created for hikers and mountain bikers, among them a trail along the Borromean Gulf from Stresa, known as the “Queen” city of Lake Maggiore, or the Vigezzo Valley trails. The small town of Locarno is home to a famed international film festival, and Lugano, Switzerland, is the Canton of Ticino’s capital, an Italian-speaking community celebrated for its Mediterranean-styled squares and balconied architecture, as well as its mountain-meets-Mediterranean cuisine.

Location

Nearest airport: Lugano (50 minutes); Milan Malpensa (1.5 hours)

Best time to visit

April to October