Luxurious Digs: ‘House of Gucci’ Lake Como Villa is Now an Airbnb

You’ve seen the movie and feel like you want to live like the Gucci family – and you’re in luck.

House Gucci

You’ve seen the movie and feel like you want to live like the Gucci family – and you’re in luck. The Lake Como Villa that served as one of the residences in the House of Gucci film is now an Airbnb, and guests can stay in the ultimate luxurious pad – with a slight catch. CELEB takes a look inside the over-the-top villa and what a stay might look like for the lucky guests. 

Vacation like Gaga

House Gucci

It’s opulent, it’s ostentatious, and it’s up for rent. Villa Balbiano is one of two residences on Lake Como that was used to film House of Gucci and now you too can wine and dine in elegance just like the film’s stars – just keep the murdering to a minimum, please. Unfortunately, there is a catch: it’s only available for one night, on March 30, 2022. For $1,128 you too can walk the halls where Adam Driver and Lady Gaga made their latest film debuts. 

The Villa itself is an ode to ’90’s era Italian opulence, with heavy furniture and gold everywhere. Crystal chandeliers and marble baths, topiaries and gold-lined mirrors the size of cars; it’s all there. Filled with historic art pieces, Villa Balbiano’s six suites have been designed by famed artist Jaques Garcia. 

The villa’s listing shares the history of the location; “Villa Balbiano is an exceptional historical palazzo that once belonged to the famous Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, who built it at the end of 16th century and used it as his main residence. A century later, it was enlarged and embellished by Cardinal Angelo Maria Durini who used the Villa to host a gallant and frivolous society where festivals, banquets and dances followed one another relentlessly.

Nowadays, Villa Balbiano is one of the largest private residences on the lake, with an extensive sumptuous garden, which was distinguished by the British Society of Garden Designers and which guests will recognize from the new House of Gucci movie. Outdoor swimming pool, a private pier and a boathouse await.”

History and House of Gucci? We’re in! If you want to snag this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, booking opens December 6 and remember, it’s just for one night so move quickly. Visit the listing for more information. 

House of Gucci

House Gucci

The movie itself follows Gucci matriarch Patrizia Reggiani through a jaw-dropping and mostly-true murder story. Uproxx sums up the plot; “The story follows a working class woman who meets and falls in love with Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver in the film, then begins manipulating her way into the family business. After her interference tears apart their marriage, Reggiani gets her revenge by having her husband murdered.”

The story is over the top but it’s definitely intriguing and has been a hit at the box office. The Gucci family, however, is not among those fans. The Gucci family famously lost the business founded by their patriarch Guccio Gucci in 1921 due to infighting and squabbling, but they’ve finally found common cause in how much they hate this film.

Gucci Family Reunites – Kinda

House Gucci

Per the New York Times, “The descendants of Aldo Gucci, one of the three sons of Guccio, and the man who turned the Florentine leather brand into a global sensation (and who is played in the film by Al Pacino as a sort of rumpled, prosciutto-spewing American cartoon of a Mafioso) issued a statement, reading: ‘Although the film claims to tell the ‘true story’ of the family, the narrative is anything but accurate, depicting Aldo Gucci — president of the company for 30 years — and other members of the Gucci family who were the protagonists of well-documented events, as hooligans, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them.’

It went on: ‘Even more censurable is the baffling reconstruction of events that advocate leniency toward a woman who was definitively convicted as the instigator of Maurizio Gucci’s murder. To see her portrayed as a victim — not only in the film but also in statements by the cast — who is trying to survive in a male-dominated corporate culture, is an injustice and could not be further from the truth.’”

Director of the film, Ridley Scott, has defended artistic changes as due course now that the story is part of the public domain. Reggiani – who is 72 and living in Milan now – was not consulted on the film and is apparently pretty upset about that fact. Scott added the disclaimer, “inspired by a true story,” which gives them a lot of artistic license to change things without lying about the accuracy of the film. Instead of consulting living Guccis, the team used the book by Sara Gay Forden as a grounding point. 

It’s not uncommon that biopic films about living people are met with criticism – after all, they’re alive to dispute the light in which the movie casts them. The Gucci family, however, may do best to sit back and enjoy the notoriety. 

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