Sleeps 10
3 double bedrooms, 2 twin/double bedrooms, 1 shower room and 3 bathrooms, 2 of which ensuite
Location: Arezzo and Cortona
This property rents from Saturday to Saturday
A short distance from the birthplace of the famous sculptor, Casa Michelangelo is a delightful Tuscan villa positioned to take in the Tiber valley and Lake Montedoglio in one breathtaking panorama. With a view from furnished terraces and a vine-covered pergola that somehow helps the visitor breathe more deeply, the easy family atmosphere in and out of the honey-coloured stone house assures a restful holiday for guests of all generations. There is a wide lavender and rose bordered garden that offers wonderful places for children to play under the generous shade of cherry and walnut trees, yet there are also quiet corners on all levels for those seeking time with a good book or congenial conversation.
Passing the owners home, the approach drive finishes on a level above the house where the fenced pool offers perhaps the property's best views from its furnished stone surround. Steps from the pool area lead down past a furnished patio to the lower flagstone terrace facing the garden. To one side of the terrace, the original staircase leads up to the sitting room, yet the most often used entrance is no doubt directly into what was formerly the stables and is now the generous heart of any Tuscan home - a well-equipped kitchen. Conveniently off one side of the kitchen is a dining room with a long slate-topped table for 10 and access through French doors to the furnished pergola favoured for al fresco meals. Also off the kitchen is a charming double bedroom with ensuite bathroom and a door to the terrace. The internal staircase, just past the cleverly concealed washing machine, leads up to the first floor landing with an attractive bathroom and entrance to a cosy sitting room with a comfortable sofa and a large pietra serena fireplace. Off this room are doors to two twin bedrooms, which can be made up as doubles when requested, and to a large double bedroom that has direct access to the upper furnished patio and an ensuite bathroom with sunken tub. The last bedroom, with a lovely four-poster double bed and wide tower windows overlooking the garden, is on the second floor and has its own shower room on the landing.
In this lesser-known but fascinating corner of Tuscany there are all the elements for a wonderful family holiday. Not far from the medieval town of Anghiari, once famous for its immortalized battles but now known for its artisans and lively marketplace, guests at Casa Michelangelo are also less than a half hour from a wide variety of activities - tennis, golf and horse trekking for the more adventuresome, the art of Piero della Francesco at Sansepolcro and the spiritual retreat of St. Francis at La Verna for the more reflective. The owners, tour guides by profession, can help arrange excursions of delight and discovery, and one of the best parts of the day will be coming "home" to this comfortable hillside retreat to think back on it all.
Very friendly welcome; nice garden and pool; house is nicely decorated