Villa Bagatti Valsecchi

Villa Bagatti Valsecchi is located on the highest part of Cardano, offering a panoramic view of the picturesque Sanagra Valley. It was built in the 1700s at the behest of Giovanni Battista Guaita, who belonged to a high-ranking local family that had gained great social elevation through emigration to Germany. The Guaita family also owned much of the surrounding valley. Over time, the exterior appearance of the building was modified to fit the medieval style of the village of Cardano.

In the 19th century, the property passed to the Galbiati barons, only to be inherited in 1896 by the Bagatti - Valsecchi of Belvignate, the current owners. The entrance to the villa is on a small square, surrounded by stone houses decorated with "graffito" motifs, typical of the Alpine valleys. The building is built in a "U" shape, with a wrought-iron gate facing the square. The villa consists of three floors in the part facing the village and two in the interior. The Galbiati barons added a loggia-tower on the roof.

The villa's garden is a distinctive feature, divided into two parts: a 19th-century one and a more recent one, created in the 1950s. It is one of the most distinctive gardens in the province of Como, designed largely by the Galbiati family in the 19th century, with a terraced structure overlooking an overhang, in which the Sanagra River flows. On the opposite side, the forest was part of a large English-style park with pathways and resting corners. At the center of the park, the Galbiati family built a medieval-style tower, the Torre Milano, which offers a spectacular view of the Menaggio Valley and the Grigne and Legnone pre-Alpine groups. There is also a belvedere and a rock-cut gallery located on the opposite side of the valley from the villa.