This Historic $26 Million Italian Villa Was Converted Into a Luxurious Ski Chalet
Why rent a house in the Italian Alps when you can own the area’s priciest chalet?
La Fenice, an idyllic ski home overlooking the Matterhorn in Cervinia, has recently come onto the market for an eye-watering €24 million (or about $26.4 million), Bloomberg reported. Translating to “phoenix” in Italian, the stone-clad mountain mansion was converted from a derelict 1930s villa that, according to Savills, who holds the listing, had frequently been visited by the Italian royal family.
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Today, the snowy abode sports its own sophisticated brand of Alpine chic. For starters, the swanky property measures nearly 13,000 square feet and comprises seven ensuite bedrooms across its six floors. Other notable features of the stately spread include an outdoor spa, a ski room, a helipad, an elevator, and easy access to the surrounding slopes.
Perched roughly 330 feet above the village, the refurbishment of La Fenice was a challenging project roughly five years in the making. According to Bloomberg, seller John Harrison, a former partner and chief operating officer of the London-based investment firm Amplitude Capital, purchased the mountainside property 11 years ago.
Shortly after, he enlisted a local Italian architect who specializes in high-altitude builds to tackle the lengthy renovation, which included chiseling into the side of the mountain to create enough room for a 10-meter indoor swimming pool. “We had two options: whether to build a smaller chalet, which would have probably been more sensible for family usage, or to push the bar up and do something different,” Harrison told Bloomberg. “We went for the latter.”
In addition to the pool, the chalet includes several balconies, a fully equipped fitness center, a private movie theater with three tiers of seating, and an expansive wine cellar. The pièce de résistance is an atrium that’s adorned with a glittering Swarovski crystal chandelier.
Over the years, Harrison has rented out the wintery oasis to deep-pocketed vacationers on an “exclusive-hire basis.” Most recently, the price to have La Fenice all to yourself for six nights in December was a whopping €65,000 (or roughly $71,156).
“We are one of the few chalets built on ski resorts in Italy, so there really isn’t a comparable to benchmark this with,” Harrison tells Bloomberg. “In terms of chalets, everyone thinks of Switzerland and France and not Italy, so we broke the mold.”
Click here to see all the photos of Chalet La Fenice.
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