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It was built
in the vicinity of the old town centre by the Bolongaro family who were originally from Stresa. 
It is known that the villa existed in 1771 and that Giacomo Filippo Bolongaro made continual
improvements on the building until his death in 1780. Today it overlooks the attractive lakefront,
since the Simplon Road, built in Napoleon's time, cut through the property and separated the garden
from the lakeshore. The villa is based on a rectangular plan and rises above a basement floor
decorated with elegant balustrades which functions as a terrace. The mezzanine is characterized by a portico
with three arches, which, together with the stucco-decorated windows reflects a style typical of the Lombard school.
The outside double-ramped curved staircase is 18th-century and is supported by pilasters with a rococo wrought iron railing.
In 1848 the property passed from the Bolongaro family to the famous  philosopher Antonio Rosmini who spent the last years
of his life here in the company of such illustrious personalities as Alessandro Manzoni, Ruggero Bonghi and Niccolò Tommaseo.
At Rosmini's death in 1857 the villa was sold to the Duchess of Genova (Princess Elizabeth of Saxony) who owned
it for the next fifty years and considered it to be the perfect country residence. The villa, by now familiarly known
as "Ducale", then went through a particularly brilliant period and became a
favorite destination of European
nobility. At the same time its interior was embellished thanks to work done by the architect Pietro Bottini who was involved in
numerous construction projects in the area. The gardens also underwent a transformation with the planting
of new and precious botanical varieties. Elizabeth's private chambers, located on the mezzanine and decorated
with frescoes depicting flowers and plants, can still be seen today. The villa's original wooden floors were substituted
with mosaic floors as well during those years. After the Duchess's death  the family sold the villa and it went through a
number of different owners until passing into the hands of the Padri Rosminiani in 1942. After the war Villa Ducale was
completely restored and in place of the mansard, built in the 1800's and destroyed by fire, a fourth storey, thought by many
to be out of proportion to the rest of the building, was added. Today the villa houses the International Centre for
Rosminian Studies and includes a museum dedicated to the philosopher and a well-stocked library
with over one hundred thousand volumes on the first floor. The gardens, which were originally Italian in style, are rich
in both exotic and native varieties. Among the most noteworthy are an impressive camphor tree and a great cedar of
Lebanon facing the lake that was planted in 1860.
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