THE STORY OF VILLA NOHO.
A REVIEW
The villa was built in 1969 by the Derde-Hirth family and originally served as a cozy guesthouse with a shared kitchen and about ten rooms.
In 1976, my father purchased the villa with pink walls as a vacation home for our family, who was living in Italy at the time. After the purchase, he named the villa "Villa Säntis," after the mountain in the Swiss Alps that lies across from us and is only 20 km away, and completely remodeled it inside and out. He extended the house towards the garden, creating the current living room with the grand piano and huge panoramic windows. Additionally, he transformed the simple, cubic house with two floors and an attic into a vibrant façade with an extra floor and two side towers of different sizes. One served as an office for the upper apartment, and the other as his bedroom, connected by a spiral staircase to the ground floor. The new color of the house was yellow.
Three years after my father passed away in 2010, my wife and I moved into the upper floor. We wanted to test whether Nonnenhorn was better than Milan, where we lived with our first two children. After a few weeks, we were sure we wanted to move. Since then, the villa has become our beloved home, and we named it "Villa Noho." We completely renovated the upper apartment and connected my parents' bedrooms with the first floor. The facade now shines in white, and we carried out many important works, including the renovation of the roof, bricks, insulation, and all the windows.
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Since July 2022, I have been renting the ground floor as an exclusive holiday apartment for guests seeking a truly special vacation experience. The ground floor apartment has also been lovingly and modernly furnished, while preserving the charm of my father, founder of the renowned Museo d'arte e Scienza in Milan, which is reflected in many details of the apartment.​​​​​
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1969
1976
2026