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4 double bedrooms, 1 bathroom and 1 shower room
Location: Garfagnana and the Apuan Alps
Saturday to Saturday rentals.
In the heart of Lunigiana, just below Fivizzano, there is a charming hidden corner, tucked away from time. Reached by crossing an ancient stone bridge, known locally as the "Roman Bridge", this is a large stone house with a swimming pool beside, and just a short walk from nearby Fivizzano.
Once important by virtue of its position on the main road, this road is now a walking path, and the area recalls an ancient calmer time. The grounds of the property rise on three easily reached levels towards the hillside through which the ancient stone path is nowadays used by the occasional hiker. Close to the house, the swimming pool has both sun and a view of the village, while on a higher level there is a small patio, furnished for eating alfresco or relaxing with a good book.
The owner has chosen to keep interiors simple, choosing details and furnishings with care, and this, together with the solid walls and the glimpses of wilderness through the windows translates into a relaxing and welcoming atmosphere for its visitors. The entrance is on the ground floor, leading to a comfortable living room with sofas and a piano(Baby Grand Piano unlocked on request), and double bedroom with adjoining shower room. This large double bedroom also has a door to a sunny terraced part of the garden, with a shaded pergola and dining table. The first floor is reached by an open stone staircase but, as the house follows the contours of the hillside, can also be reached by an entrance door higher up the hill. On this floor are an eat-in kitchen, three double bedrooms and a bathroom that serves them all. While two of the bedrooms are of modest size, a third is large and luminous and has sky-blue walls that evoke the Nature outside its windows. Also on this floor is a cosy corner at the top of the stairs, with a dining table, chairs, a small sofa and lots of books and magazines.
The house is perfect for people seeking a country holiday, where they can savour a simple life, the sun, the trees and and walks in an area of Tuscany that is still quite undiscovered.
The Lunigiana is situated in the north of Tuscany, among the Appenine and Apuane mountains and the Ligurian Sea. Taking its name from the ancient Roman settlement of Luni, this is a land of passage where the charm of the Middle Ages is strongly felt - in the castles belonging to the powerful Malaspina family that once hosted Dante, in the Romanesque country churches or the mighty walls of Medici Carpigliola and in the elegant tower built by the bishops of Luni. It is a borderland where different cultures have mixed and you can feel this in the landscape, in the languages and in the traditional food of the area. Throughout the centuries people crossed this land as pilgrims or soldiers or merchants, for it is the initial part of the Tuscan Via Francigena. Nowadays, old paths have become trekking ways that wind among castles, isolated towers and fortresses or green valleys and silent hills. There is certainly room for new pilgrims.