Property services
The peopleworth knowing.
Every firm and individual here has been used by us, by a member, or by both. We meet them, we check their work, and we remove them when the work slips. There is no advertising and there are no paid placements.
15 categories 96 firms and individuals
Each category below has its own page covering what that trade actually deals with on this lake: steep sites, deliveries by barge or by hand, protected buildings, damp, dry-stone terracing and houses that stand empty for eight months of the year.
01The network
02How we choose
Nobody paysto be here.
A directory that sells its listings is worth nothing. Ours is built the slow way: a firm arrives because a member used them and said so, and stays because the next member says the same.
Used, not listed
We have worked with them, or a member has.
Checked
Registration, insurance, references, past sites.
Reviewed
Every twelve months, and after any complaint.
Removed
Quietly, and without argument, when work slips.
Introductions
Tell us whatneeds doing.
A leaking terrace, a garden that has gone over, a house that needs opening in April. We will introduce two people, not fifteen.
Questions
How do you choose the firms on the network?
Every one has been used by us or by a member. Nobody pays to appear, we take no commission on an introduction, and firms are removed when the work slips.
It is built the slow way, which is the only way a list like this stays worth anything. We would rather introduce two people we would use ourselves than publish a directory of forty.
What does a property manager on Lake Como do?
Opens and closes the house, holds the keys, meets the trades, watches for damp and storm damage, and is physically able to be at the house today rather than next week.
On a lake where most houses stand empty for eight months, that last point is the whole job. The cost of a manager is almost always less than the cost of finding out about a problem in April.
Do you publish prices for the firms you introduce?
No. Rates depend on the house, the access and the season, and a published figure would be wrong more often than right.
What we will do is tell you what a piece of work should broadly involve, what usually drives the cost up on a lakeside site, and whether a quotation you have been given looks reasonable.
The network, by trade
Read first
For people who work on the lake
Are you the bestat what you do here?
The list we introduce from is short and grows slowly: by working with somebody, seeing how a job goes, and only then adding them. If that is the standard you hold yourself to, tell us who you are. We read every one. We check work before we introduce anybody, and no money passes in either direction.
Put yourself forward