Villa Camilla

Villa Camilla stands near Domaso's historic centre, facing Lake Como across the shore road. A seventeenth-century residence enlarged and redecorated by successive owners, it became the town's municipal seat after purchase in 1952.

Why it matters

The complex preserves the relationship between a noble residence, its service buildings and a planted estate. Its later civic use adds another chapter without erasing the architecture and decoration of the former private house.

What to notice

The rectangular, two-storey villa has a serizzo entrance portal, a balcony on stone corbels and rusticated corners. An eighteenth-century wrought-iron gate came from Villa Giulini at Sorico. Interior decoration includes neoclassical geometric and floral designs, monochrome landscapes on the stairway and a room with family coats of arms. Camellias, tall trees and a nineteenth-century artificial grotto contribute to the park's character.

Context and history

The Ghezzi family's earlier house was enlarged by the Calderara counts. A survey of 1790 records the villa and its service and rural buildings. After further changes of ownership, Giuseppe Maria Sebregondi acquired it in 1903 and named it for his wife Camilla Barbiano di Belgioioso. His heirs sold it to the municipality.