+ Historic mansion near Monte Rosa
+ Private chef upon request
+ Booked as a whole
+ For up to twelve people
Villa Albertini
For a hundred years, Villa Albertini in Gressoney-Saint-Jean has stayed in one family. Now this living "dimora storica" is opening its doors again, to one gathering at a time.
+ Historic mansion near Monte Rosa
+ Private chef upon request
+ Booked as a whole
+ For up to twelve people
Gressoney is the kind of valley where the old people still greet you in Titsch, the Walser German that came over the passes centuries ago. Here, at the foot of Monte Rosa, Queen Margherita liked it enough to build a castle. A few minutes’ walk below Castel Savoia stands a house of grey stone, larch and steep roofs, larger than it first appears: Villa Albertini.
VILLA ALBERTINI
A historic summer house
Once the door to Villa Albertini at the foot of Monte Rosa opens, there is a whole world within.
Alberto Albertini, journalist, writer and co-director of the “Corriere della Sera”, built it with his brother Luigi and his wife Paola between 1924 and 1926. She was the daughter of Giuseppe Giacosa, who co-wrote the libretti for “La Bohème” and “Tosca”. The brief was a summer house for a family that liked company. Very much so.
The villa was lived in for four months a year, and the table was rarely laid for only the family. The household arrived with cooks, linen and staff, who slept under the roof. The two Albertini brothers had married two Giacosa sisters, so the family was large and the guest list was larger.
Conductor Arturo Toscanini came, as did the philosopher Benedetto Croce and Luigi Einaudi, later President of the Republic. Tolstoy’s daughter Tatiana set up her easel on the terrace. With Giacosa in the family tree, the grand staircase became a stage, and the evenings ended in comedies played on its steps.
Alberto and Paola had no children. The house passed to the nieces, and the family that inherited it lived in Rome. The villa became a place for summer holidays and for Christmas.
Alberto Albertini’s ex libris reads “Distribuendo ugualmente la luce”. Sharing the light equally. It is an apt sentiment for a villa that became a gathering place for writers, artists and liberal thinkers.
villa albertini
Staying without schedule
Today the house belongs to Piera, Agata, Adriano, and Arrigo. After several years of renovations, Studio Sucks was brought in to take a holistic approach to the villa’s interiors, brand, imagery, and guest experience. The family has opened it to guests while keeping its character as a home.
The villa is taken whole, by one party, for a few nights and room for twelve. Breakfast is Italian, in the afternoon there is crostata. A private chef can cook for an evening or for the whole stay, and whatever else you have in mind can be arranged on request.
A member of the family, or someone close to it, is there to open the house and share some of the stories if you ask. There is room to gather, of course, and corners to discover, to hide in, to be on your own. A seat to read in, a window to think at and in the evening, the fireplace.
Outside, the garden opens onto the alpine forest and the valley. You’ll see. It seems to go on forever, with Monte Rosa at the end of it. Hiking trails and cross-country tracks start the gate, and Monterosa Ski is ten minutes away.
Autumn is particularly beautiful in the valley. In winter, cross-country trails start at the gate, while Monterosa Ski – one of the Italian Alps’ leading ski areas, with skiing above 3,000 metres – is just ten minutes away.
The villa lends itself to gatherings that deserve a little more time. To the kind of people who want to sit at the long table where Toscanini once sat. A family reunion maybe, a few days with friends, a small team finding space to think, or a group of creatives beginning something together. The occasion is yours to invent. The house has had a hundred years of practice.
The location
Gressoney-Saint-Jean is located at the foot of Monte Rosa, surrounded by alpine forests, waterfalls and mountain peaks. 2 hours from Milan, 90 minutes from Turin.
