Pickleball Paddle for a Lake Como Villa Aesthetic (2026)

By ARTI Pickleball. Last updated October 2026.

For a Lake Como villa aesthetic, the pickleball paddle to buy is the ARTI Mastery Elite in Olive Green: a 14mm raw carbon fiber face over a honeycomb polymer core, edgeless, with a triple-throat handle, in a green that belongs beside cypress and olive leaves rather than a lemon grove. The same paddle comes in Grey for the stone-and-pewter side of the palette and in Brown for the wood-and-leather side. For the guest rack, the Sandstorm set is the quiet one in ARTI's fiberglass line.

Why the Lake Como look asks something different of a paddle

The Northern Italian lake house is not the Amalfi Coast with the saturation turned down. It is its own register: cypress and olive silver against pale stone, water that reads pewter more often than turquoise. When a player says the reference is Lake Como, they usually mean quieter, greener and older than most sports equipment is designed to look. The coastal version of this question, citrus and cobalt and whitewash, is a different article: see the Portofino and Italian Riviera guide.

The palette: olive, stone, cypress, pewter

The lake palette is low-saturation and shadow-conscious: olive, laurel and cypress greens, limestone, wrought iron, old brass, the faded salmon-grey of terracotta. A paddle in one of those colors looks right on the first glance and still looks right in October.

Texture over pattern, restraint over blankness

A lake-house interior prizes texture over pattern: rough linen, honed marble, unlacquered brass, surfaces that look like a material rather than a picture of one. That is why a raw carbon fiber face reads more villa than a glossy printed graphic, and it has a practical side: a raw carbon face holds its texture over time versus a painted-grit face. But a Lake Como house is not a blank house; the gate has a crest and the linen has a monogram. The marking belongs to the object and does not shout, which is why the ARTI paddle that fits this palette can carry a printed wordmark and still be right. The quiet luxury paddle guide is the longer version of this argument.

Our pick: the Mastery Elite in Olive Green

The ARTI Mastery Elite is ARTI's 14mm carbon paddle, with a 100% raw carbon fiber face. It is 16.34 inches long and 7.5 inches wide and weighs 7.8 to 8.0 ounces, and the MES 1.0 is on the USA Pickleball approved paddle list. It comes in three colorways, Olive Green, Grey and Brown, and for a Lake Como reference Olive Green is the one to start with.

What it looks like on the rack

Olive green across the face, with a large printed ARTI wordmark, the MES 1.0 model mark and a halftone band. Because the paddle is edgeless there is no guard around the rim. For the lake palette, think of it next to a cypress hedge, an olive jar or a waxed cotton jacket.

How it plays

ARTI positions the Mastery Elite as a control-forward all-around paddle for a demanding player who wants one paddle for everything; it is not a power specialist. The Mastery Elite spec breakdown goes through the build in more detail.

Who this is for

• The player whose visual reference is Villa d'Este and Bellagio rather than Positano: olive, stone, cypress, pewter water.
• The owner of a lake, mountain or historic property who wants the paddle to belong to the setting.
• The hostess-gift shopper who needs one considered object rather than a boxed kit.
• The demanding player who wants one paddle for everything and is not willing to trade play for looks.

Grey or Brown: the other two colorways

All three Mastery Elite colorways are the same paddle with the same printed marks; only the color changes. Choose by the room the paddle will live in.

• Olive Green for the garden side of the house: cypress, boxwood, the olive trees on the terrace, a green-painted shutter.
• Grey for the stone side: limestone walls, pewter water, a slate roof, navy-and-cream rooms. It is grey on grey, with the printed ARTI wordmark.
• Brown for the wood-and-leather side: a library, a varnished boat, saddle leather, terracotta tile.

If the house mixes all three, which most lake houses do, Olive Green is the default and the other two are the second and third paddles. All three sit on the Mastery Elite collection page.

The guest rack: a quiet fiberglass set for the loggia

A lake house hosts. The resident's Elite should stay the resident's, and the guests should have paddles that match the house but can be handed to anyone. ARTI's fiberglass gift sets are built for that. Each set is two fiberglass paddles, four outdoor balls and a navy drawstring ARTI carry bag in one box, complete for two people with nothing else to buy. The paddles have a fiberglass face over a 16mm honeycomb polymer core, in the same 16.34 by 7.5 inch footprint and 7.8 to 8.0 ounce weight as the carbon paddles. The two paddles in a set share one spec but carry different artwork on a shared theme.

Sandstorm: the set that matches the stone

The Sandstorm set is the one for this house. One paddle carries a topographic line print; the other carries soft taupe and mauve shapes. Of the eight set designs, taupe, mauve and a line drawing sit closest to a stone-and-linen palette. If the household wants a second, different set on the rack, the Golf Course set also suits a quiet house: cherry blossoms over a quiet fairway on one paddle, golfers by a bunker and flag on the other, a landscape rather than a logo.

Four paddles at once: Court Crew 4

For a house that hosts doubles every weekend, Court Crew 4 is two gift sets of your choosing in one order: four fiberglass paddles, eight outdoor balls and two carry bags. Any two of the eight everyday sets qualify, and the same set twice is allowed, so Sandstorm plus Sandstorm gives you four paddles from one design theme for the guest basket, two with the topographic line print and two with the taupe and mauve shapes. Our 4-player set guide covers how to pair the sets.

The rest of the kit: bag, layer, hat

Three other choices decide whether the court reads as part of the property or as a bolted-on rec facility.

The bag

ARTI's Signature Cotton Tote in Cream or Navy reads as a market bag that happens to hold paddles: 100% heavyweight cotton canvas, an embroidered ARTI script with a crown patch, reinforced cotton webbing handles, 14 inches wide by 15 high by 6.25 deep, and room for two paddles, balls and the essentials. For the player carrying more, the Signature Duffle in Cream or Navy is the weekend-bag version: durable polyester, a zipper top with toggle pulls, the ARTI logo and crown patch, 17 by 13.75 by 6.5 inches, a removable adjustable shoulder strap, and room for paddles, gear and a change of clothes. Cream for the terrace, Navy for the boat. The tote and duffle guide compares the two.

The layer

The Let's Play Crewneck in Olive Green pairs with the paddle: 350g heavyweight fleece, 80% cotton and 20% polyester, a relaxed unisex fit, a subtle crown logo on the front and the Let's Play graphic on the back. A crewneck is the layer for arriving, warming up, between games, watching and after, and on a lake the evening air comes off the water earlier than you expect.

The hat

The Throwback Classic Rope Hat is the one for this setting: a structured six-panel crown, the embroidered ARTI signature on the front and the crown logo on the back, a rope braid across the brim, adjustable, in a breathable cotton blend. The rope brim is the detail that reads lake club rather than baseball cap.

A hostess gift for a lake-house weekend

The other reason people search this topic is an invitation: a friend's lake house, a host who plays, and a gift that should feel considered rather than transactional. The move is one paddle, wrapped simply, with no spec sheet attached. A Mastery Elite on its own reads as a piece of the house rather than a promotional item. Pick the colorway by their rooms, not yours. Our hostess gift guide covers the rest of the etiquette.

If the household is new to the game

The gift that scales to the whole house, the spouse, the visiting friends, the neighbor who wanders over on Sunday, is the Sandstorm set, with artwork that suits the house. ARTI offers free gift wrap and a gift note on playwitharti.com orders of the gift sets, which settles the wrapping on the way out the door.

14mm or 16mm for a villa court?

Both are legitimate; the question is what the player wants in the hand. 14mm plays with more pop and a faster feel; 16mm gives more control and a softer touch for dinks and resets. The Mastery Elite is 14mm, the choice for a player who wants a crisper feel than 16mm gives. The 16mm vs 14mm guide goes deeper on thickness.

ARTI's 16mm carbon paddles are the illustrated ones

For the softer 16mm touch in raw carbon, ARTI's illustrated paddles are the option: fully illustrated faces rather than one colorway with a printed wordmark. The State Collection is four paddles with regional art: Texas in burnt orange with cattle skulls, cowboy hats, boots, horses and lassos; New York in pink with pizza slices, yellow taxis, apples, pretzels and the Statue of Liberty; Florida in baby blue with alligators, flamingos, palm trees and oranges; and California in cool mint green with surfboards, vintage red cars, sailboats and palm trees. The five Kristen & Kristy paddles are ARTI-drawn pop-art characters. All of them share one build: raw carbon fiber face, 16mm honeycomb polymer core, edgeless. They are the playful paddles on the rack, and that is the point of them; if one person in the house wants that, California, mint green with sailboats, is the one that nods toward the water. The paddle comparison page lines every ARTI paddle up side by side.

Questions people ask

Is the Mastery Elite a plain paddle or a printed one?

Printed. Every Mastery Elite colorway, Olive Green, Grey and Brown, carries a large printed ARTI wordmark, an MES 1.0 mark and a halftone band on the face. The quiet comes from the color and the raw carbon surface, not from an absence of print.

Which Mastery Elite colorway fits a Lake Como villa?

Olive Green if the house leans garden: cypress, boxwood, terracotta, green shutters. Grey if it leans stone: limestone, pewter water, navy and cream rooms; the Grey is grey on grey, with the printed ARTI wordmark. Brown if it leans wood and leather: a library, a varnished boat, saddle leather. When in doubt, Olive Green.

Should a lake house keep one good paddle or a set?

Both. The resident who plays keeps a Mastery Elite, and the house keeps a Sandstorm set, or a Court Crew 4 built from two Sandstorm sets, for guests. The house paddles take the wear and get handed to anyone; the personal paddle stays personal.

Is a 14mm paddle a sensible choice for a mixed-level household?

For the resident who plays regularly, yes. ARTI positions the Mastery Elite as a control-forward all-around paddle, not a power specialist, and 14mm means a little more pop and a faster feel than 16mm. For guests, the fiberglass set paddles are 16mm, which gives a softer touch for dinks and resets.