History
The baroque chateau was built at the end of the 17th century on the site of a former Celtic settlement above the village of Mcely. At first it served as a hunting lodge because of the great wealth of game in the surrounding forests, but later it became the permanent country residence for several significant European noble families.
The last of these, which occupied the chateau for several generations from 1869 to 1948, was the princely family of Thurn-Taxis. To this day they tell tales in the area of the exuberant merrymaking of the young Thurn-Taxis, of their hunts with hounds, parties with ballet dancers and actresses, kennels and hunting stables and all the paraphernalia of aristocratic life of the time. Famous guests visited the chateau during that period; among them were Mark Twain and Rainer Maria Rilke. From 1939, the chateau became the family seat of Prince Luigi della Torre e Tasso and his wife Fanny Goodyear, the daughter of the founder of the famous tire company. Luigi met his wife on a round-the-world cruise and persuaded this elegant young lady to move from New York to Mcely. After the war and the communist takeover, Luigi and Fanny with their son, Prince Alexander, who was born in the chateau, were forced to leave the chateau, and the chateau fell into ruins.
In 2001 Inéz Cusumano discovered the dilapidated chateau. She fell in love with this magical place despite its ruin, and bought it. Only after her fateful meeting with Jim Cusumano a few months later could she start to realize her dream of regenerating the chateau into an inspirational place with the ambitious mission – to raise its visitors to a higher level of consciousness. The chateau and part of the park underwent a demanding reconstruction program and was opened in 2006. Thanks to great interest on the part of its guests, the chateau has gradually transformed into an internationally renowned five-star hotel. In 2010, construction of the Mcely Spa was finished and reconstruction of the entire English park was completed.
