Casa Navegna - Gentle Traveller

The lakeside road from Locarno to Minusio passes gardens that hide behind hedges. Between palms and dense Mediterranean greenery, a few steps from the lake, a narrow gate opens. Beyond it, a different pace begins: gravel crunches, cicadas hold their pitch, and a flat, white house waits, as it has for nearly a hundred years, for the same view.

Modern living room featuring a mix of seating, large windows, and a bookshelf, with a cozy rug on the floor.

The Location

Minusio sits so close to Locarno that the two towns merge into one another, and a visitor barely notices the border. Fifty metres from the lakeshore, between palms and dense Mediterranean greenery, lies the property, barely visible from the road.

Modern white villa with a garden, overlooking a lake and mountains in the background, from a high vantage point. — Casa Navegna, fifty metres from the shore of Lake Maggiore.

Only beyond the gate does the façade appear: a flat roof, sculptural rendered walls, load-bearing columns of regional granite. A pergola runs along the front of the house, an element architect Ernst Bechstein borrowed from Ticino’s building tradition. Large windows open towards the lake; the rear has hardly any. A house with a clear sense of direction.

Modern villa with lush greenery and two lounge chairs on a manicured lawn, set against a mountain backdrop.

Wisteria drapes over a porch with red furniture, overlooking a green garden and mountains in the background.

Backstory

In 1929, the wool manufacturer Walter Bucher, a friend of the architect and part of the intellectual circle around Monte Verità, commissioned a holiday house devoted to the pleasures of life. Bechstein, trained at the cantonal technical college and later at the Technical University of Munich, designed one of the first Neues Bauen buildings in Ticino.

A man seated on a couch, looking out a large window with curtains, surrounded by plants and a vase of flowers. — Walter Bucher, who commissioned Casa Navegna in 1929.

Four people standing on a stone pathway in a garden, surrounded by greenery and flowers, with mountains in the background. — Four generations later: Barbara with her mother Sigrid Schnyder & her children Sophie & David.

The house’s real character, though, comes from four generations who have lived in and cared for it since. Bucher’s daughter married a diplomat, and their daughter — Bucher’s granddaughter, a doctor and sculptor — made the garden studio her own domain and filled the house, over decades, with art, books and design objects. Her hand is still felt everywhere. Changes made in the 1970s were reversed in 2004/2005, when she had the house restored to its original state, without disturbing this cultural character. Today, the fourth generation of the family carries the house forward.

Modern architectural structure featuring a balcony and large windows, surrounded by greenery. — Ernst Bechstein designed Casa Navegna in 1929…

Modernist house surrounded by greenery, with mountains in the background, captured in black and white. — …as one of the earliest Neues Bauen houses in Ticino.

Interior & Architecture

The architecture combines the formal language of modernism with traditional material: the flat roof and the sculptural rendered façade meet columns of Ticino granite, so-called pilotis.

Modern villa terrace with a view of a lake and mountains, featuring a sleek white structure and surrounding greenery. — The aluminium-clad rooftop bedroom was the only new architectural element added during the 2004/2005 restoration by baserga mozzetti.

In 2004/2005, the Muralto-based practice baserga mozzetti restored the house to its original state and added one new element: an organically shaped bedroom clad in aluminium on the roof, recalling a landed UFO, without contradicting the rest of the architecture.

Modern kitchen with a sleek design, featuring a glass-fronted cabinet, white chairs, and a wooden counter with fruit.

Lush garden with blooming hydrangeas and wisteria, framing a white house with a covered porch in Casa Navegna. — The pergola was borrowed from Ticino’s building tradition.

In 2007, the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA) awarded the renovation the Premio SIA Ticino. Inside, what continues is what the house’s artist gathered over decades: original design classics, her own artworks and others’, an extensive library. Here, one lives inside her collection.

Sculptural head on a stand beside framed art and stacked books on a wooden shelf in a minimalist interior.

Bright hallway with a wooden staircase, framed artwork on the wall, and a vintage display cart.

A Look Inside

Four bedrooms are spread across two floors: three doubles and a single on the first floor, plus two bathrooms with a shower and a bathtub. On the second floor lies the rooftop bedroom, the newest and most unusual room in the house.

Bright, modern bedroom with a curved wall, featuring a bed with white linens and blue pillows, and a wooden floor.

Air conditioning was fitted throughout in 2026, a concession to summers grown hotter than Bucher ever knew.

Bright interior of Casa Navegna featuring a rocking horse, a wooden table with flowers, and a large painting, with a view ...

Bright bedroom with large windows, light curtains, a wooden chair, and a minimalist design, overlooking a scenic view.

Speakers, a projector and a screen turn the living room into a cinema when required; her library of art books invites lingering, and the espresso machine in the kitchen sees to the morning coffee.

Bright interior of Villa Lamparter in Minusio, featuring a chair, bookshelf, and potted plants with a view of the outdoors.

Culinary

Casa Navegna keeps no professional kitchen of its own—guests cook for themselves, in a modern kitchen with a dishwasher and the espresso machine already mentioned. Alternatively, if guests would like a private chef or a catering service, Ivana Maric, the current manager, has a few local recommendations to offer. Just a few minutes’ walk from the house on the lakeshore, there are several good restaurants. The local ‘Osteria La Riva’ serves authentic Ticino dishes, homemade pasta and has outdoor seating with a fantastic view of the lake.

Modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances, open door leading to a stone patio and lush greenery outside. — A self-catering house: the kitchen belongs entirely to its guests.

Giardino Lago, right in Minusio, pairs lake views with contemporary Ticino cooking. Locanda Locarnese, in Locarno’s old town and listed in the Guide Michelin, cooks with restraint and a focus on ingredients. Osteria del Centenario, in Locarno-Muralto, scores 16 out of 20 in the region’s restaurant rankings, one of the higher marks in the area. Those visiting the Termali Salini & Spa beforehand can go straight on to dinner at the neighbouring Restaurant BLU.

Wellness & Relaxation

A pool belongs to the garden, small, and at forty-five centimetres too shallow for swimming—more a quick refreshment between two chapters, or two thoughts. Those wanting to swim walk the three hundred metres to the lake. Terraces at different heights surround the garden, along with hidden nooks and stone tables where an afternoon can slip away unnoticed.

Red table set with glassware on a patio, surrounded by lush greenery and mountains in the background at Casa Navegna.

The garden still holds the studio where the house’s artist worked for decades—open today to guests who would rather draw or write than swim. Those preferring something more institutional will find, ten minutes by car, at the Termali Salini & Spa in Locarno, a natural saltwater spa with a sauna landscape and massages: the concentrated version of what the garden offers in passing.

Stone table and benches surrounded by greenery, with a view of a lake and mountains in the background.

Pool area surrounded by greenery and palm trees, featuring a stone statue and pink lounge chairs at Villa Lamparter, Minusio. — Forty-five centimetres deep: a pool for cooling off, not for swimming.

Surrounding Area

Five minutes’ walk away begins the lakeside promenade to Locarno, nearly deserted in autumn and winter. Those heading the other way reach Tenero and the Gambarogno, also on foot or by bicycle. Ten minutes further by car lies Ascona, with Monte Verità, the hill where vegetarians, anarchists, dancers and sun-worshippers gathered at the start of the twentieth century—the intellectual soil from which Bucher’s idea for this house also grew.

Scenic view of a lake surrounded by mountains, with a stone railing covered in greenery in the foreground. — Lake Maggiore, a few minutes’ walk from the house.
© Emmanuel Cassar, Unsplash

Those widening the circle will find, in Locarno, the Casa Rusca and the Ghisla art collection, and in Ascona, the Museo Comunale d’Arte Moderna. A day trip should be devoted to the Isola Madre, reachable by boat from Stresa, one of the most botanically rich islands on Lake Maggiore. Families with children should not miss the Bobosco trail along the Verzasca, a walking path lined with wooden ball runs that force a halt every few metres. Those visiting Locarno in August will find the Piazza Grande in the middle of the film festival, when the entire old town becomes an open-air cinema screen. Between October and April, the promenade becomes wonderfully quiet. It’s the perfect time to enjoy the most authentic side of Ticino, away from the hustle and bustle.

Activities

Water and Movement: Two stand-up paddleboards are ready to use, boats can be hired in Locarno and Ascona, and the lakeside cycling and walking path runs all the way to Locarno, with hire stations nearby. The public Tenero Sports Centre is five minutes away, along with several tennis courts and the Golf Club Patriziale Ascona.

Hiking: Ticino’s network of trails begins practically at the door. Especially recommended for families is the Bobosco trail along the Verzasca, complemented by numerous more demanding routes in the surrounding mountains.

Blue stand-up paddleboard on a calm lake, red bungee cords across the deck, with a tree-lined shore and clear blue sky ahead. — Two stand-up paddleboards are available for guests to use.

Large abstract painting with dark purples and greens on a white gallery wall, with a white rectangular bench in front. — Nearby, guests will find a wide variety of galleries & museums.

Culture and Art: Casa Rusca, the Ghisla art collection and Museo Casorella in Locarno, the Museo Comunale d’Arte Moderna in Ascona, and Monte Verità with its history of the life-reform movement. Those travelling further will find, in Lugano, the Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, the LAC arts and convention centre, and the Bally Foundation.

Winter: From October to April, Ticino shows its quieter side—the promenade empties, the light turns clearer. Ski areas such as Andermatt-Sedrun-Disentis, Splügen or family-friendly Bosco Gurin are reachable within an hour to ninety minutes by car.

City Trips: Milan lies two hours away by direct train, no changes required. A day there is comfortably enough for the cathedral, design and an aperitivo.

LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura building with a swan on the grass, surrounded by historic architecture in the background. — LAC Lugano
© Monster4711, LAC Lugano Art e Cultura, CC0 1.0

Boats anchored in a calm lake, surrounded by mountains and bare trees, under a clear blue sky. — Lago Maggiore
© Casa Navegna

Details

Four bedrooms for seven guests, plus a sofa bed in the office.
Two bathrooms with shower and bathtub.
A rooftop bedroom clad in aluminium, the architectural high point.
A 3,000-square-metre garden with pool, art studio and several terraces.
Library of art books, home cinema equipment, espresso machine, fireplace, air conditioning throughout.
Two stand-up paddleboards, two private parking spaces, washing machine.
Well-behaved dogs welcome.
Minimum stay three nights, discounts from seven, fourteen and thirty nights.
Nearest station: Minusio, five minutes on foot.