A Garden Between Worlds at La Foleia
HOSPITALITY PROJECTS
Hidden within the wooded edges of Lake Maggiore, La Foleia feels less like a destination and more like a dream you somehow step into. Once an oak forest, the land was first transformed by architects Caretti and Turner into a poetic composition of water and architecture. Today, under the careful vision of owners Gemma Richards and Niccolò Rignano, it has been reimagined as a deeply personal retreat, where design and nature exist in quiet harmony.
The first impression is cinematic. A soft pink façade framed by climbing ivy, arched windows opening onto still water, and terraces that seem to hover between inside and out. Here, architecture does not dominate the landscape, it dissolves into it. The two villas mirror one another across the lake, their reflections doubling the scene and blurring the boundary between reality and illusion.
What makes La Foleia so compelling is this seamless dialogue between interior and nature. French doors open wide, allowing light, air and the rhythm of the garden to flow freely through the spaces. Inside, rooms are calm and quietly elegant, yet always anchored by what lies beyond. A bedroom framed by bookshelves looks out onto green foliage, while frescoed interiors echo the colours and textures of the surrounding landscape.
Outside, the experience becomes fully immersive. A long table set beneath trailing vines, overlooking a still, mirror-like lake, feels like a moment suspended in time. Water lilies drift across the surface, dragonflies move through the air, and the soundscape shifts with the day, from birdsong to the gentle movement of water. It is nature, but curated with a painter’s eye.
Villa Ottagonale
The garden itself is perhaps the true masterpiece. Designed by renowned horticulturist Gianfranco Giustina, it unfolds as a living, breathing landscape, rich with rare species, seasonal colour and shifting atmospheres. In summer, the lake blooms into a field of lotus and lilies, while the surrounding greenery creates a sense of complete seclusion.
There is a quiet sense of theatre throughout. A rowboat gliding between lily pads, a stone pathway leading through dense greenery, a hidden terrace revealed only as you move through the space. Every element feels considered, yet never forced. La Foleia captures the essence of living between worlds. It is interior and exterior, structure and landscape, design and nature. A place where boundaries dissolve, and where the experience of space becomes something deeply emotional, almost poetic.
Set on one side of the lake, Villa Ottagonale takes its name from its distinctive octagonal layout. French windows in the sumptuous salon frame the water and the statues that stand quietly along its edges, drawing the lake directly into the heart of the interior. Antique furnishings sit alongside modern pieces and contemporary design with effortless ease, while the lakeside terrace and dining area complete the fairytale setting. It is a villa designed to feel both grand and intimate, where every view becomes a composition in itself.
Villa Padiglione
