Overlooking the lake along the stretch of coast that scheduled boats travel between Moltrasio and Carate Urio, Villa Scalfi stands just steps from the old Oratory of San Rocco, in one of the most striking sections of the western shore of Lake Como.
The villa is part of the rich heritage of historic residences in Moltrasio, a village that became a holiday destination for artists and nobles as early as the 18th century, thanks to its proximity to Como and the beauty of its shores. Those same shores were quarried for centuries to extract Moltrasio stone, a building material that became known well beyond the local area: the Niasc quarry, no longer active, has been nominated several times by the FAI (Fondo Ambiente Italiano) to its “Places of the Heart” census (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020) as part of a proposed restoration project with a museum dedicated to the stone.
The stretch of coast where Villa Scalfi stands is part of the classic “Primo Bacino in Battello” route, the boat itinerary that from Como calls at Cernobbio, Blevio and Moltrasio before reaching the small harbour of Carate Urio, passing close to some of the most celebrated villas of the western shore.
A private property not open to visitors inside, Villa Scalfi currently has no published historical research specifically dedicated to it - a limitation it shares with many of the area’s lesser-known residences, which are often documented only for villas of greater artistic renown, such as Villa Passalacqua, enlarged in 1787 to a design by Felice Soave, or Villa Salterio Erker, linked to the stay of composer Vincenzo Bellini in the autumn of 1828. It nonetheless remains one of the many quiet witnesses to the long season of genteel holiday-making that made Moltrasio one of the most elegant villages on Lake Como.