hollywood billionaire

Chapter 276 The Pearl on Lake Como

Although the river stretches for nearly fifty kilometers from south to north, the essence of Lake Como is actually concentrated around a few towns.

The first one to bear the brunt is naturally the city of Como. Just by looking at its name, you can tell that this small Lombardy city with a population of 5000 is the beginning and end of Lake Como.The vast majority of tourists get off at the San Giovanni train station here, go down the long steps, arrive at the lakeside, and start their sightseeing tour.It was also from here that I boarded the intercity train that passed by at dusk and dragged my tired body back to Milan.

The second most popular destination is the golden triangle consisting of Benaggio, Menaggio, Tremezzo and Varenna. These small towns are located at the center of the Y shape of Lake Como, with Babian Villa Nero, Villa Carlotta, Castle Vezio and many other places of interest.

In the 21st century, George Clooney's move in has led a large number of Hollywood celebrities to choose their rented vacation villas near his Villa Ollandra, which has also made the city of Como and the Golden Triangle close to each other. Lalio, down to Cernobbio, became the hottest emerging fertile ground.

But the word "emerging" is actually not accurate. After all, even though the overall popularity of tourism suddenly skyrocketed with the rise of social media such as Instagram, which drove mass consumption, Cernobbio, Lario and Molte Lassio has been collected by the old money for decades.The Ambrosetti International Economic Forum, where EU heads of state, dignitaries and business tycoons gather, is held every year at the Villa d'Este mentioned by Antoine Gachet, and the Passalacqua Manor where the group just arrived, He also stands here silently like a hermit.

The reason why I use the word "standstill" is, first of all, because the location of Passalacqua Manor is too hidden.From the SS340 highway, you have to turn three 180-degree turns between San Martino Road, Memory Road, Besana Road and Pus Palace Road to get to the manor.

"Mi scusi, sinore."

The Mercedes-Benz drove past two ancient stone pillars, one of which was engraved with the white marble nameplate of "Palazzo Moltrasio".Walking through a path lined with lush pines and cypresses on both sides, paved with cobblestones and gravel, and separated by rusty metal railings, we arrived at the front courtyard of Passalacqua Manor.

Hearing the crunching sound of tires running over stones, the silver-haired old man, who was leaning against the gate with his eyes half-open and half-closed, seemed to be wandering between dreams and reality, started up, straightened his white-brimmed hat, and walked towards the car. .

“Che cosa stai cercando?”

"Abbiamo una prenotazione con il maggiordomo." Antoine Gachet rolled down all the windows, stuck his head out, and responded in fluent Italian.

"Il maggiordomo..." the old man muttered vaguely, "come si chiama?"

"Colombini." Antoine's expression froze, and then his voice became a little lower.

"Ah, sì, una prenotazione per le quindici."

The old man turned his head and glanced at the crumpled white paper taped to the stone wall on the left side of the gate. Then, at the speed of a sloth, he pushed open the iron fence door tremblingly, waved to the driver, and signaled the group. People continued to drive in.

"Wow." He lowered his head and straightened his clothes. Antoine shook his head and let out an obviously sarcastic sigh.

"What's wrong?" Han Yi was confused.

"Our doorman is very unprofessional...and disrespectful, that's all I can say." Antoine licked his lower lip, "And he's as old as everything we see."

"understood."

Han Yi nodded slightly and looked at the things Antoine Jiashe said.A gray-white arch with a rich Mediterranean style, a low stone house that can be seen to have been a stable for stagecoaches and other horses, and now converted into a guard room, and a campanile that is significantly higher than the surrounding buildings. , the church bell tower, which is the most distinctive feature of the Italian-style manor.

No one needed to introduce the architecture and history of this manor. Han Yi himself could see that Passalacqua was definitely not a product of the past 300 years.

Why are you so sure?

Just look at the smoke stains and mildew stains on the arches and towers that have become so dark that they have almost covered up the original color.

The two stone pillars I passed just now were also covered with moss from time.

"If you guessed correctly, the owner of Passalacqua... hasn't been here for a long time?"

"I heard that I haven't been here for 16 years." Antoine nodded in response. "In the past ten years, we have been renting out single rooms to receive tourists."

"Would any tourist be willing to live in a place like this?" Han Yi exclaimed. The car drove hard on the gravel road of the manor. The vegetation on the right side of the lake was indeed lush, but there were no traces of pruning at all. He was lying at the door. The two imitation Chinese-style turquoise stone lions seemed to have become wilted. The fountain in front of the main building had not been functioning properly for a long time, and the remaining pool water inside had turned into a pool of black mud.

Overall, Passalacqua was nothing like the luxurious manor he imagined. It was hard for Han Yi to imagine that anyone would be willing to pay $[-] a night to live in something like this. The haunted house of the dead.

"Of course not, that's why the owner wants to sell it...and it's our biggest bargaining advantage."

“But why would we buy an estate that has deteriorated like this?”

"Because from Lugano to Como, no investor will sell their luxury hotel assets in this market situation... They are worth more than gold. For ordinary hotels, the annual cash return rate is 6-12% Around 25% in some popular areas of Lake Como."

"Wouldn't it be possible to get back the money in four to five years?" Han Yi was surprised.

"The risk is small, the return on investment is quick, and the expected income is rising steadily. Naturally, the only thing left for us is a historical monument like Passalacqua, which is not even a serious hotel." Antoine Gachet opened the door and said to Han Yi made a gesture of invitation, "However, historical monuments are not without their benefits. With a profound heritage and a loud sign, as long as you meet a sponsor who is willing to spend money, it will naturally become another golden sign of Lake Como. "

"Let's go meet with the housekeeper here first, Mr. Han. I saw Passalacqua's 2001 assessment report. The exterior was neglected, but the interior was well maintained."

"Can the 2001 report be used now?"

Han Yi murmured in a low voice while following Antoine towards the main entrance of Passalacqua Manor.The exterior wall of the main building looks as smooth as new, showing a slightly fluorescent milky yellow under the sunlight.However, there is nothing praiseworthy about the shape of the building itself. It is just a dull and monotonous rectangular parallelepiped.

The three-story building has windows evenly arranged. It feels like the designer directly copied and pasted the design and completed it in 2 minutes.In addition to the rather majestic gate, the second-floor terrace that shields the gate from the wind and rain, there is also a middle-aged housekeeper standing at the gate with his hands folded in front of him to greet Han Yi and his party.

The reason why he could be identified as the butler at a glance was because he was neatly dressed in a uniform that was obviously too tight, so much so that even the crimson tie that was pressed into the beige suit vest was bulging a little.

"Mr. Colombini."

Antoine Gachet and the butler walked towards each other, stretched out their hands at the same time, and smiled at the same time.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Gashe."

After clasping his hands vigorously, Colombini bowed to Han Yiqian who was diagonally behind Antoine.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Han, I have long admired you. My name is Mattia Colombini, the head of the Passalacqua Manor. On behalf of the Love family and all the staff of the manor, I sincerely and warmly welcome you."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Colombini." Han Yi's pupils shrank slightly. If he heard correctly, this typical Italian man with thick eyebrows and brown eyes, with cheeks so thin that they were sunken into two grooves, was speaking fluently and American English without any accent, "You speak great English."

"My name sounds very Italian, but I actually grew up in the South Bronx." Mattia smiled modestly, showing no hint of American exaggeration. "Mattia is Matthew in English. If you called me Matthew Colombini, it might not be that surprising to you."

"I see." Han Yi opened his mouth and gave Mattia a smile in return, "It's because my thinking has become solidified."

"You are too humble, Mr. Han." Mattia turned sideways and showed a waiter holding a tray behind him. "What kind of drink can we serve to entertain you? Mr. Gashe said that you are interested in iced Coke. I have a soft spot for lemons.”

"I'll take that." Casting a grateful look at Antoine, Han Yi took a glass with an embossed pattern on the surface from the tray handed to him and took a sip.

"It was delicious, thank you."

"I'm happy to serve you." After serving the espresso coffee and ice water that had been prepared for Antoine Gachet and Feamou Derwig respectively, Mattia stretched his arms toward the room, "Gentlemen, please Come with me... Mr. Han, if it is inconvenient for you, you can hand the cup to me."

"I must say it, Mattia."

Putting the glass back on the tray, Han Yi smacked his lips and looked at the front hall of the main building of Passalacqua Manor.

"The interior looks... clean and new."

What Antoine Gachet said in the 2001 report was true. The interior of the main building looked like a completely different world from the outdoor garden.Outside is Italy on the day the Armistice of Casibir was signed, and inside is Italy during the reign of the Five Wise Emperors in the first century AD.

"I understand what you mean, Mr. Han."

Mattia Colombini turned his head and glanced outside, with a slightly bitter smile on his lips.

"The team left behind in Passalacqua is doing its best to maintain the honor and dignity of this historical landmark...but manpower has its limits, and so do financial resources. Our current funding is severely insufficient, and only five employees, including me, have signed long-term contracts. We don’t even have our own engineers. If there is a problem with the power system, we have to hire someone from Milan to repair it.”

"Then what if there is a guest staying and something unexpected happens?"

"I only encountered this once a few months ago." Mattia sighed, "A family booked two rooms, and within three hours of checking in, the man's shaver short-circuited the entire manor's electrical wiring. We had to arrange for them to live in Villa d'Este. Until they left Lake Como, they never came back."

"That's really bad."

"The whole staff was very frustrated. We had to close down for two weeks for repairs... Fortunately, no other guests booked the room again. After all... you know, at the same price, there are many other hotels in this area." Less is better.”

"Yes." He glanced up at the front hall porch, which was at least ten meters high and hung with six rose gold chandeliers. He then looked down at the gold-rimmed red carpet, which couldn't find any stains and even had an elegant and refreshing fragrance. Han Yi asked, "Why don't Mr. and Mrs. Love take care of running this place? I heard from Antoine that this is the place that once hosted Napoleon and Churchill."

"Not only Napoleon and Churchill, Passalacqua was also the residence of Vincenzo Bellini from 1829 to 1833. It was here that he wrote "Norma" and "Sleepwalker"... Not only that, the building This land in the manor was once the private property of Innocent XI.”

"That's even more regrettable." Han Yi shook his head, "It should have been a pearl on the shores of Lake Como."

"It used to be, Mr. Han." Mattia lowered his eyes, "It used to be."

"Mr. Colombini." Antoine Gachet joined the conversation at the right time. "We are all very interested in hearing about the history of Passalacqua... It is also a rare experience to tour the manor and listen to interesting anecdotes. enjoyment.”

"Of course, Mr. Gachet."

Mattia smoothed down his tie and smiled.

"Please come with me to the living area on the left wing of the first floor. Let's start with the most commonly used areas."

"To tell the story of Passalacqua Manor from the beginning, we have to mention the count who named it, one of the most prominent nobles on Lake Como, a descendant of the Lucini family..."

"Andrea Lucini Passalacqua."

(End of this chapter)