In the early 1950s, this nineteenth-century villa in Tavernerio opened its doors to refugees from the flooded Polesine and to local families hit by the flooding of the Cosia stream: a chapter of solidarity that has deeply marked its recent history.
Located on via IV Novembre, not far from the church of San Martino, the villa is an elegant nineteenth-century building surrounded by a large park, typical of the stately residences that dot the territory of Tavernerio, a municipality whose medieval history was marked by long disputes between Como and Milan.
Today the complex houses Villa Santa Maria, a centre specialising in the care of children with autism and other psychiatric conditions: a use that has allowed the building and its park to be preserved, turning a once-private home into a place of care and support open to the community. An example of how the great historic villas of the Lario area can, over time, reinvent their function without losing their connection to their own history.