For the furnishing project were involved Italian artisans and historic workshops like il Bronzetto of Florence

Passalacqua is a five-star hotel overlooking Lake Como. Halls, underground tunnels and winter gardens tell the story of the historic residence’s past life. It welcomed famous people and brilliant minds from the world of music, literature, art and politics as Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, the poet Carlo Porta and where Vincenzo Bellini composed Norma and La sonnambula.

The De Santis family, owner of the property, worked with numerous professionals for the structural recovery of the villa and to define the general setting, then left Valentina De Santis carte blanche for the furnishing project. Free to express herself, Valentina has relied on well-known names in the furniture world: Rubelli, Barovier and Toso and Venini. But also, on smaller, particular brands such as LadoubleJ, involving Italian artisans such as Conticelli and historic workshops like Barbini and Il Bronzetto of Florence.

Il Bronzetto had the honour of dealing with the most particular requests: creating one of the most complex and impressive custom chandeliers ever produced by the Florentine laboratory. Two meters in diameter and decorated with hundreds of golden, small oak leaves, which required three months of work. Not to mention the smaller functional items still studied in detail.

An example of dedication to good taste, the continuous search for beauty and attention to detail, which we find everywhere: from the logo with the three pikes that Il Bronzetto has reproduced and made it a handle for the door to the PALMIRA portable lamps in bronze and fabric, battery-powered, for lighting the tables set in the outdoor spaces of the terrace, the rose garden or under the plane trees in the bar area. The maximum elegance combined with modern technology in the field of Contract lighting.

A relevant part of the customization work carried out with the Il Bronzetto team involved the creation of lanterns for the exterior and lounge areas of the winter garden and the chandeliers that mark the path in the underground tunnels leading to the spa. A more linear and geometric mood for the burnished brass and glass appliques on the external walls of the main structure, and, finally, a softer and Arab-style taste for the lamps hidden in the hedges and in the paths of the gardens overlooking the lake and in the basements. Instead, the lanterns of the spa area were made using a very complex technique of laser cutting on a sphere, on which the perforation pattern chosen by the customer was reproduced.