This branch of Lake Cluny

This article was published in issue 33, 2005, and we’re bringing it back today to trace the changes that Vanity has led over the past 20 years. Here are all the articles we republish.

George Clooney doesn’t sweat. I’m in his living room in Laglio, on Lake Como, in the only residence of a rich American without air conditioning (“Villa Oleandra was built in the eighteenth century. If they had managed without it for three hundred years, we could have tried
So are we.” It’s 35 degrees outside, even hotter inside. George, clean-shaven, parted in the hair, wearing a pink polo shirt and blue shorts, smells nice. And he stays fresh and perfect throughout the four hours I spend with him. There are no bodyguards or press attachés in the house; he is followed in order by a blond man in a bathing suit, a young obviously pregnant woman, and a man in Bermuda shorts and sunglasses.

Excuse me, but who am I?

“Friends: my door is always open. It’s no fun having a big house and a lot of money if you have to enjoy it alone.”

How many guests do you have now?
“About fifteen; Tomorrow I’m leaving for Los Angeles, they’ll stay a little longer.”

Have you ever been alone in Laglio?
“Alone, never: Antonio and Elena, caretakers, live here all year round with their son. Now they are part of the family. There is also Giovanni, whom I met in 1997 in Venice; he was my bodyguard, we became friends, he followed me to America, and today he is my reference point in Italy.”

Giovanni is a Neapolitan boy who picked me up at the gates of the villa and took me to George. Outside I noticed a guy checking the entrance. “Is he from security?” – I asked Giovanni. “No, he was an extra in Ocean’s Twelve and hasn’t given us a break since.” And one more thing: “George is too good, kind to everyone, and people take advantage of this. But did you know that a plumber can charge you a thousand for a job costing 150 euros? Last night two drunken Belgians entered the garden. This morning I go to file a report and a policewoman tells me that Clooney must come in person to testify. Here, any excuse is good to get him involved.”

Clooney, it won’t be easy for you to live here. Italy is a country of curious people.

“But it is also a country where we Americans have always felt welcome; at least until four years ago, before Bush isolated us from the rest of the world.”

Do you no longer feel welcome?
“No, everything is okay. I did my best to integrate into Laglio, disturbing as little as possible. Of course, I can’t stop people from parking in front of my house. Then I found myself in the middle of a political war.”

History of the beach?
“Already. In fact, I only offered to build a public beach at my own expense; it was a way of thanking the country for giving me honorary citizenship. I’m not stupid enough to come here and take the beach away from the city.”

Why are you talking about political war?
“Because someone wanted to hit the mayor, accusing him of selling the beach to a Hollywood star.”

And now?
“I’m looking forward to getting started, but the bureaucracy is long.”

How much time do you spend in Laglio?
“As much as I can, at least four months a year, but never in a row. I come to relax, but sometimes it also brings me work, like this summer: I spent two months here editing. Good night and good lucka film that I will bring to Venice.”

Where do you live the rest of the year?
“In Los Angeles, in a villa in the Hollywood Hills, surrounded by greenery and always open to friends, like this.”

Why Italy?
“We in America don’t know how to eat, how to drink, we don’t know how to take time for ourselves. I like your sense of family. Here I see a worker returning home with a bottle of wine, bread, flowers; I pass by an ice cream shop in Cernobbio and watch mothers dancing with their children; things I haven’t seen in the United States in too long.”

Why Lake Como?
“Gregory Peck, who always came here, recommended this area to me for a motorcycle trip. I left with a friend who knew the owners of this house(Heinzed.): We walked in and I was amazed.”