The hinterland is one of the less known, but no less fascinating faces of Lake Garda: a scenario that often offers unexpected surprises such as Bedizzole, a real “front door” to the Garda where you can find many solutions if you’re looking for hospitality with great care and and off the beaten track.
Particularly attractive in this sense is the case of Agriturismo L’Unicorno, located in the village of Macesina small fraction lost among the vineyards and fields. Here Corrado Becchetti and his wife Gabriella Binkert kicked off in 2007 a long, loving, patient restoration of one of the oldest historic homes of the surroundings, build in 1654 as a manor house with agricultural activities linked to the vineyard.
“Originally the house was owned by a Verona noblewoman – says Corrado -. Then later it passed into the hands of a Hungarian family. When my family decided to acquire it, the building was abandoned. My wife and I loved it and we decided to transform it. ”
From the beginning, Corrado and Gabriella have focused on a conservative restoration, capable of maintaining the old charm of the structure. And the result is really extraordinary. Opened in 2013, L’Unicorno offers today the opportunity to truly immerse yourself in an atmosphere of yesteryear but with hotel standards of the highest level. There are only 10 rooms, and each one is a tribute to the Brescia province and its history (the Mille Miglia, D’Annunzio, the Vittoriale, the Centomiglia Sailing in Gargnano). All are exclusively furnished with family antiques collected over time or during trips made by the owners: everything is treated in detail, from embroidered linen sheets to blankets of pure virgin wool hand-woven to the courtesy products for the bathroom made from natural essences and olive oil. Attention to the environment is high, thanks to a photovoltaic system that reduces to almost zero CO2 emissions, while the salt water pool has a purification system that does not require the addition of chlorine.
All around, the quiet of the park that blends with the area cultivated like a garden with vines, olive trees and other species, from which come more than 5,000 bottles of wine divided into three labels (a Groppello Doc Garda Classico, a Valtènesi Doc red with Groppello and Rebo grapes and 18 months of aging, and a rosé), as well as spirits, organic jams, extra virgin olive oil.
“We try to offer a 360 degrees experience of our territory – explains Corrado -. At our restaurant, Locanda La Chiocciola, open by reservation also to external clients, we offer traditional dishes with local products which partly come from our large vegetable garden. But we also try to tell the customer what our area offers, with all the advices for trips and visits both cultural and gastronomic, proposing our farm as an ideal base to visit, Garda, Brescia, Verona, Mantova, or to attend the polo golf circuit of Garda or major events such as the Mille Miglia and the Arena opera season “.
The Unicorn is part of the Living History Consortium, the Italian section of the Historical Hotels of Europe that collects all historic houses which are used for hotel business in Europe and is based in Paris, and is also in the guide Domus Selecta made in Spain and always dedicated to the historic homes : offering both B & B service (breakfast with local cheeses Valli, self-produced meats, corporate jams, fresh cakes …) and half board. Info in four languages: www.unicorno.eu.
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