Villa Edith

Villa Edith is an enchanting villa built in 1881 in Sarnico, on the Bergamo shore of Lake Iseo, opposite Franciacorta.

The villa is divided into two apartments, both available as holiday homes: The first apartment is spread over 2 floors (ground floor and 1st floor), it has 3 rooms with 6 beds in total and 2 bathrooms, 1 living room, 1 dining room, and 1 fully equipped kitchen; The second apartment is on one floor (it is located on the 2nd floor of the residence), it has 3 rooms with 6 beds in total, 1 bathroom, and 1 kitchen/dining room.

Villa Edith is also a perfect location for events and private ceremonies. Its atmosphere, panoramic view, elegance, and hospitality are ready to host your event, making it unique and unforgettable.

The History of Villa Edith
The current form of the house was designed in 1892 by Giovanni Ceruti, a rather famous architect from Milan, who also designed the Natural History Museum of Milan and the Expo of Milan project in 1881.
The house belonged to Lieutenant General Clemente Luigi Maria Franceschini, who purchased it in 1881 when he was a Major of the Cavalry. At that time, the house was a small convent of a religious order of nuns, later suppressed with the unification of Italy.

At that time, the house was called “Villino Franceschini” because it was only a private home for the family and was not used for social events, unlike most of the large villas built on Lake Como and Lake Maggiore. Major Franceschini bought the house a year after his marriage to Edith Ellen Carrington Boothby, a young Englishwoman, daughter of Sir Thomas Carrington and Lady Elizabeth Boothby.
Her maternal uncle was Sir James Brownell Boothby, who happens to be in the seventh generation of the family tree of Princes William and Harry of England.
The young lady found the lakeside very attractive and tried to spend most of her husband’s military leave in Sarnico.
Lady Edith had two daughters who unfortunately became ill and died in 1891 at the ages of 4 and 5. In an attempt to overcome the tragedy, Colonel Franceschini called on Giovanni Ceruti to completely transform the building.
Ceruti increased the number of rooms and gave it its current form, a mix of Venetian architecture with the “Queen Ann” style, very fashionable in England at that time. Moreover, Ceruti greatly expanded the garden, which extended for 3 km along the lake’s shore. After these works, the house was renamed Villa Edith Carrington Franceschini, or simply Villa Edith, although it remained a private home without reception rooms and halls.

The house was almost abandoned from World War II until the 2000s, the garden was divided among the heirs, and only recently the Franceschini Weiss family began to restore it.