Richard Gere has become the latest American actor to become enchanted by Lake Como after George Clooney, who has even bought property here. A local real estate agency has confirmed that the American Gigolo actor had asked it to find him a lakeside home for a week-long holiday at the end of May. Gere is apparently willing to pay in the neighborhood of 50,000 euros for the house if it is on the lake's west side, between the resort of Cernobbio and Clooney's adopted town of Laglio, and comes complete with at least two bedrooms, a spacious living area, pool and gym.
The Officer and a Gentlemen star also demanded that the lakeside house have its own private dock and that it be secluded enough to guarantee his privacy and protect him for paparazzi. Clooney bought a lakeside villa, Villa Oleandra, three years ago as a getaway from his Hollywood lifestyle. He later bought adjacent property. Laglio has bent over backwards to make Clooney happy and has allowed him to make major alterations to his residences, including a bridge over a main road to join the properties, and recently to lease a portion of a public beach in front of one of his villas. The town even voted to make him an honorary citizen. Clooney has written to the town's people twice, once to apologise for any inconvenience he may have created for attracting paparazzi, and the second time last month to explain his intentions regarding the beach property. In his letters, the Hollywood heart-throb made a point of saying that "Laglio is the most beautiful town in the world. Its people, my neighbors, are warm and kind" and that added that "my greatest desire is just to live in this wonderful village and walk along its lovely streets."
