George Clooney

George Clooney has finally decided to sell his Lake Como villa, in northern Italy, amid speculation the Hollywood star was becoming increasingly concerned about paparazzi presence in the famed Italian holiday hotspot.

Clooney, 62, bought the 3,000 sq m Villa Oleandra from the Heinz family, makers of the well-known tomato ketchup, for €11.7m in 2002.

He purchased the adjoining Villa Margherita for €8m two years later, and connected the properties by a bridge.

Clooney and his wife, leading human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, have spent many summer holidays with their twins Ella and Alexander, six, at the Lake Como estate.

In recent weeks, it was reported Clooney had listed the sprawling home for €100m, with a source close to the actor telling Page Six Clooney was “conscious of the attention he gets when he’s in town”.

Now, a leading property agent has confirmed the rumours are true in a statement to weekly magazine Oggi, obtained by The Times.

Yasemin Baysal, a managing partner at Engel & Völkers real estate agency, said she was approached by an agency in Milan to sell Clooney’s home.

She added: “One client in particular is very interested: we have started all of the checks with a view to making an offer.”

The Independent has contacted Clooney’s representatives for comment.

The 18th century villa is located in Laglio, of which Clooney was made an honorary citizen in 2004. It has 25 rooms, a vegetable garden, cinema, gym, tennis and basketball courts, a swimming pool, and grounds spread over 8,500 sq m.

George and Amal Clooney

Since acquiring the property, Clooney has hosted several celebrities at Villa Oleandra, including the Duke and Duchess of Sussex Harry and Meghan, Barack and Michelle Obama, Jennifer Aniston, and Matt Damon.

He added: “I thought maybe I would spend a few weeks vacationing. But then I realised how beautiful life was in Italy and how it really helped calm me and not feel so pressured.”

During a press conference to promote his film The American in 2010, Clooney said buying the home “changed my life in a very pleasant and unexpected way."

In 2020, Clooney was praised for helping locals affected by severe flooding in Laglio, after three days of torrential rain in the region.

However, Clooney has reportedly remained concerned about members of the paparazzi flocking to Lake Como, with the actor threatening legal action against French magazine Voici after it published photographs of his newborn twins in 2017.

Two years prior, the then-mayor of Laglio, Roberto Pozzi, introduced fines of upto €500 for anyone who approached the entrance or got within 100 metres of Clooney’s villa, to protect the star couple’s privacy.

The Independent