Casa Franziska
No need to perform here. No schedule. No reason to check your phone.
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No need to perform here. No schedule. No reason to check your phone.
Check availabilitiesA house above Lake Maggiore where the church bell tells you what time it is.
Where you wake up without an alarm and forget what day it is by Wednesday.
And where the world is still twenty minutes away when you want it.
When I first saw the house, I knew it was a treasure. Before me, an old lady had lived in it. There was no heating. Even at over eighty, she only fired the chimneys. The house had no bathroom. Just one sink in the kitchen. She had lived in it the way it had been lived in for centuries.
They told me it would be easier to tear it down and build new. For me this was out of the question. I wanted to keep the soul. The chestnut floor is two hundred years old. The walls in the cellar are still painted with lime, because the house breathes. The wood the bathroom sinks rest on is from the old terrace. It could not hold the weight of a terrace anymore, but it was too precious to throw away.
This house has its own rhythm with the seasons. It still moves with the heat and the cold. That is why you might find a little dust in some corners.
Franziska
The house is open year-round. Each season has its own quiet — long evenings by the fire in winter, mornings on the terrace in summer.
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The wood the bathroom sink rests on was from the old terrace. It could not hold weight anymore. It was too precious to throw away.
The Ignis is from a time when things were built to last. We still cook on it.
The whole village brought their grapes here. Every house, every garden. The wine was not good. But it was theirs.
Three bedrooms. Sleeps six. From CHF 250 a night.
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The beam was here long before the bathroom was. We kept it.
The cellar is untouched. The damigiane, the stone, the iron rings on the casks.
Most of what is in the rooms is older than I am. The doors. The dressers. Made by carpenters who lived in this village.
The carpenter who lived here left his tools. We did not move them.
Some things are still here from before. Like this Singer. It still works.
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The people in this village still live by old values. The old lady next door needs milk, so a neighbour fetches it. Another neighbour makes honey and shares his cherries when his branches bend from all the fruit. Sometimes his bees escape. That is fun.
Once my car battery died on the piazza. Within minutes, half the village was investigating, pushing, and looking for the right cables. Someone had them. Someone always does.
The hunters here are mostly old men. They go out at dusk, because that is when the deer and the wild boar come out. Coming up the road at night, please drive slowly.
This is Bassano. 28 people. 550 metres above the lake. Time has more or less stopped here.
In the garden, a stone in the fountain is carved with the year 1668. The first stones of the house were laid around that time.
Twenty minutes down the road, you reach the lake. The closest market town is Luino. On Wednesdays the streets fill with stalls, the same way they have for centuries. On Saturdays you take the ferry across to Cannobio for its market. Both are mornings worth keeping free.
For casual dinner, Ai Tigli in the village just below us. For something finer, Mazzardit on the lake, where the locals eat. In Luino, Café Clerici for an afternoon coffee. In Maccagno, Bistro' da Melo if it is open. We will leave you a list.
Ascona and Locarno are forty minutes across the Swiss border. Lugano is an hour. Milano two. But most days you will not want to leave the village.
Around Casa Franziska — Walks, swims, markets, cafés and restaurants — what's worth your time. Grab the brochure for my personal favorites and a few practical tips.
Get the brochureIn case you're travelling with kids, I have two kids of my own and this is their favourite place. Happy to share more on what to do with kids here, just get in touch.
A car is needed to reach Bassano.
There is no shop in the village, the village is tiny but fairytale-like.
Three nights minimum.
The wifi works. You do not come here to work.
The house is at the piazza, parking available.
You do not need to do anything but arrive.
The house holds one family at a time. Three bedrooms. Sleeps six.
Please treat this old lady with respect and care.
Be gentle to her. Be gentle to yourself when you are here.
Franziska
Anything else you'd like to know? Just ask.
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