It’s the end of an era. No, the era in question is not the demise of a handful of marriages between famous people. No, not the end of the Holocene and the advent of the Anthropocene. No! Not the end of your summer vacation. It’s bigger than all of that! This is the end of the era in which George Clooney is Mr. Lake Como, mayor of the lago. He’s selling the enormous home that he’s kept there for nearly two decades, at least according to Page Six.
This is the grand villa that Clooney purchased in 2002, when his life with Amal, London barrister of beauty and brains, was merely a twinkle in his occhio. He reportedly purchased the property from the Heinz family for $10 million and soon after, when one heard the words Lake Como, one couldn’t help thinking, That’s where Clooney is fully at peace. He brought a sleepy vacation town near the Swiss Alps back to its former glory as a slightly less sleepy vacation town for tony travelers.
Americans flocked there on vacations, in part because it’s a historically very chichi place to go, but also because maybe Clooney, star of ER and those winning Ocean’s movies, would be in residence. And we’re talking very famous Americans—Tom Cruise! Bill Gates!—as well as ones who got there on their own hard-earned credit card points. It was attractive because, well, it’s naturally very beautiful and comes with a romantic, old pedigree, but also because maybe one would spy the perpetual bachelor across the lake and have a little story to take home. It added a touch of potential energy to one’s leisure time. It was fun.
From Nick Cornish/Shutterstock.
Then he married Amal (neé Alamuddin) in 2014, and they had their twins, Alexander and Ella, in 2017. Lake Como became a family place, a place to take the kids in the summer. The thrill of the place was not diminished; maybe it even increased. A perfect family out on a perfect lake and running through the halls of the villa? Little in life could be so sweet. They were just there on a boat in July!
Here’s the really mind-blowing thing, though. According to Page Six’s source, he’s quietly asking $107 million, which is close to one hundred million dollars more than what he reportedly bought it for. Which—I don’t know—that’s a little kooky, right? Inflation is real and the housing market is certainly trying to kill us all, but wow! A 1,000% profit over 20 years for the tequila guy? It’s nearly unthinkable.
The tabloid does a little hedging, which is to say that they noted similar rumors from the past, when anonymous insiders claimed he was selling the place. In both 2010 and in 2015, Clooney was allegedly considering a sale due to the paparazzi attention he and the house received. (Yes, as much as Clooney put Lake Como on the map for a certain set of American flaneurs, he created a local economy around photos of himself and his famous friends.) Those sales did not ultimately come to pass.
It’s funny. The $100 million number was whispered nearly a decade ago too. Maybe Clooney just likes that number. Maybe he likes to say that number out loud. He says, “I bet we could get $100 million for this place, easy.” And someone in his circle hears him and gives Page Six a ring, and we all mourn the end of an era. But then, life goes on. The family returns every summer for a cheese polenta and turn around the lake. The horrors and the fears never come to pass. All good things must come to an end, but maybe—maybe—they don’t have to yet. Not quite yet.
Kenzie Bryant
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