Currently property of the Cavazza family, this island just over 300 metres off the shores of San Felice del Benaco has been inhabited since Roman times. Visited by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1220 and by Saint Bernardino of Siena two centuries later, Isola del Garda was home to an important convent that was then suppressed by Napoleon in 1798. The island became state property and was later sold off, passing through the hands of a number of different owners. In the early 19th century, it became the residence of the Counts Lechi, who built a villa on top of the remains of the old monastery. The property was then purchased by Duke Gaetano de Ferrari and his wife Maria Annenkoff who, between 1880 and 1900, commissioned Genoese architect Luigi Rovelli to build the present villa in Venetian Gothic Revival style and to create the garden, importing exotic plants and fertile soil. The beautiful formal garden on the central terrace features various boxwood topiary shapes, including the emblem of the de Ferrari family. The particular lake microclimate favours the growth of lush palm trees and the cultivation of various citrus trees. On the lower terrace by the lake grow several fruit trees. A profusion of multicoloured flowers, especially roses, hydrangeas and dahlias, spread across the property, while the lower plain part of the island is home to a landscaped park with charmingly wild atmospheres, where typically Mediterranean vegetation coexists with other plants from other parts of the world, including monumental marsh cypresses, and perfectly acclimatised cedars and sequoias.