Situated on the western shores of the Lake is the town of Verbania. 

Captain Neil McEacharn bought villa Taranto in 1931 in Verbania to fulfil his ambition of creating a botanical garden. He used the natural contours of the ground to create terraced gardens, formal gardens, as well as garden ponds and water gardens on the land. 

Today there is a vast collection of over 300 varieties of Dahlias, exotic plants including Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Camellias, Heathers and Maple Trees.

Captain Neil McEacharn died in 1964 and is buried in the mausoleum in the villa’s gardens. The gardens have been opened to the public since 1952.

Villa Taranto can be reached easily by a water taxi from Stressa.