· 6 min read · by Salimar Boat Tour
Villa Oleandra, George Clooney's house on Lake Como
If there is one house everybody asks to see on Lake Como, this is it. Villa Oleandra stands in Laglio, on the western shore locals call the Romantic Shore, recognisable by its ochre colour and the private dock right on the water. It is the house George Clooney bought in 2002, and the one that changed how the world sees this lake.
A villa far older than people think
The complex appears in Laglio's cadastral maps as early as 1720, on a site probably inhabited since Roman times. Its present shape dates to 1834, when the Stoppani family merged adjacent buildings into a single villa. After the Stoppani it passed to the Antognini family and then to the American Heinz family — of ketchup fame — the last owners before Clooney.
How Clooney bought it
The story told locally is that in the summer of 2001 Clooney was touring the Alps by motorcycle, stopped in Laglio and fell for the view. The purchase followed in 2002. Sources disagree on the price: some report 11.7 million euros, others around 10 million dollars. In 2004 he also bought neighbouring Villa Margherita, in Liberty style, connecting the two properties. That same year Laglio made him an honorary citizen.
What it looks like
- An 18th-century villa on three floors, around 25 rooms
- About 3,000 square metres of building and 8,500 of grounds
- Botanical gardens, outdoor pool, tennis court and gym
- A home cinema and a "pizza room"
- A large garage for Clooney's vintage motorcycles
- Two private docks
The Clooney ordinance
From 2015 the then mayor, Roberto Pozzi, issued a series of ordinances protecting the actor's privacy: no stopping on the road in front of the villas and no navigation within 100 metres of the shore, with fines up to 500 euros. From June 2020 jet-skis were banned along the whole stretch and water-skiing within 300 metres. A later mayor, Giancarlo Premoli, chose not to renew the anti-paparazzi ordinance, ruling that its urgency no longer applied.
For anyone arriving by boat the practical rule stays simple: look from the water, at a distance, without approaching the shore. It is a lived-in home, not an attraction.
Who has been here
This is where George met Amal in 2013, when she visited with a mutual friend on her way to Cannes. John Krasinski and Emily Blunt celebrated their wedding here in 2010. Documented guests include Barack and Michelle Obama with their daughters in June 2019, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Jennifer Aniston, Cindy Crawford, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
How to see it from the lake
Laglio is about 15 km from Como along the western shore: you reach it on two-hour tours and on the route to Bellagio. From the road the villa is practically invisible; from the lake you spot it straight away by its colour.
