Casa Cattaneo - also known as Villa K2 - was designed in 1952 by Mollino, one of Italy's most celebrated designers. It has remained in the hands of the same family ever since. Arranged on two floors, with a breathtaking view of Lake Maggiore, the villa is surrounded by greenery in the middle of a large private garden
The Project
The first sketches submitted by Mollino were very daring. The villa were to have consisted of two floors cantilevered on four pillars: part of the first floor would have been occupied by a grand staircase and the upper floor would have been entirely dedicated to an enormous drawing room with a glass fireplace in the centre. But Luigi Cattaneo, the Milanese industrialist who commissioned the house, rejected this idea: he wanted something simpler.
The second version of the project, created by Mollino according to his instructions, was certainly more modest but at the same time more elegant. However, it still retains its distinctive feature, the cantilevered part, resting on just two columns. And on sunny autumn days, with a clear sky and the lake shimmering, it looks as if the villa is about to take off. The living room was therefore completely abandoned (which was unthinkable at the time) and replaced with a dining room joined by an open kitchen. In addition, the house has five bedrooms: three on the first floor (two doubles and one with two single beds) and two on the ground floor (one double, one with two single beds) two bathrooms, a utility room and a boiler room. And, of course, the magnificent terrace that runs the length of the façade.
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Mollino, however, was not only an extraordinary architect but also a maverick designer, the author of furniture that has made Italian design history and reached stellar prices at auctions organised by international brands such as Christie's and Sotheby's. Villa K2 is entirely designed by Mollino in every single detail, including the screws. Some pieces, which were once part of the house's furnishings, have reluctantly been sold to private collectors or museums, but many still remain, such as the beds, wardrobes, bedside tables or the famous coat racks nicknamed 'earrings'.
Casa Cattaneo has been reviewed in countless books, exhibitions, and magazines, including Domus, Abitare, Architectural Digest, and The World of Interiors.The property is completed by the caretakers' house and the former stable, now used as a shed. All immersed in a four-hectare private park.