A former “Castellazzo” surrounded by vineyards and orchards, transformed in the 16th century into one of the first holiday villas on Lake Como: here the poet Ugo Foscolo wrote love letters to the young Francesca Giovio, known as Cecchina.
The earliest records date to the 15th century, when documents describe the building as a “Castellazzo”, a rustic two-storey structure surrounded by vineyard, meadow and orchard. In the second half of the 16th century the Milanese banker Tommaso d’Adda promoted its reconstruction, making it one of the first suburban residences of the Como patriciate on the shores of the lake. Passed down over the following centuries to the Odescalchi and Giovio families, the villa was reworked several times: towards the end of the 18th century the architect Simone Cantoni redesigned the façade and added the two side wings, while in 1870 the Celesia family, owners since the mid-19th century, commissioned the architect Nessi to raise the central body by one storey and build the greenhouse overlooking the park’s pond.
Guests who visited the villa include Vincenzo Monti and Alessandro Volta, as well as Foscolo himself, whose presence is commemorated by a bust erected in the park in 1884. In 1954 Countess Giulia Celesia Cays donated the property to the Ospedale Sant’Anna, which turned it into a rest home; between 1970 and 2000 it instead housed the style offices of Ratti, the historic Como silk company. Since 2006 a dedicated association has overseen its restoration and management: today Villa del Grumello, reachable on foot from Como along the Chilometro della Conoscenza, hosts exhibitions, conferences and cultural events, with a park that still preserves its 19th-century greenhouse, guesthouse, boathouse and chapel.