Villa Carlotta was built for the Milanese marquis Giorgio Clerici in 1690 and covers an area of over 7 hectares. At the same time, an Italian garden (with stairs, fountains, and sculptures) was established. The villa was later sold to the Napoleonic banker and politician, Giovanni Battista Sommariva. In 1818, it hosted Stendhal, who remembers this visit in the "Parma Hermitage".
Villa d'Este in Cernobbio was built in 1568. Caroline of Brunswick, wife of King George IV, lived there in 1816-1817.
Many famous people have houses on the shores of Lake Como, e.g. Matthew Bellamy, John Kerry, Madonna, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Gianni Versace, Ronaldinho, Sylvester Stallone, Julian Lennon, Richard Branson, Lionel Messi, Jose Mourinho, and others.
