A beautifully renovated country house and pool in the Tuscan hills

Accommodation

The ground floor entry is into a large room with a formal dining table for 8 and an upright piano. A wide arch and a single step leads up to the bright living area which takes in the countryside through its arched picture window. Chesterfield sofas and armchairs face an handsome stone fireplace while French doors open to a furnished pergola. A wide hallway from the dining room leads past the laundry room to the big, square kitchen with a farmhouse table, antique Tuscan dresser and granite countertops around a large 6-hob cooker. Glazed doors open onto a furnished shaded patio, an enticing outside dining area looking down towards the pool. A sliding door off the kitchen access a guest WC.

Sleeping accommodations are on the first floor, reached both by internal and external stairs. There are two double bedrooms, one of which the particularly spacious master bedroom and a twin bedroom that can be set up as a double on request. Three shower rooms, one of which with two washbasins, serve guests on this floor. At the end of the hallway, opposite one of the double bedrooms is a door to the furnished loggia. Also on this floor is a sitting room with sofa, bookshelves full of summer reading, and a door to the original external staircase landing that frames views of Casole d’Elsa. At the foot of the stairs are a barbeque and the old wood oven, which can happily prepare pizza for the whole crowd.

Local area

There are about 3 kms. of a really good farm lane approaching the house, and although quite isolated, there are other houses just out of sight. The couple that looks after the property live in Casole and are available for extra cooking and cleaning if required. They will also babysit for you on occasion and enjoy looking after guests. The owners frequently stay in their lovely holiday house; as a consequence it has everything you need for a family or a group of friends, including plenty of books and games. Delightful to look at, well planned, comfortable and beautifully furnished with a mixture of antique and classical furniture, Villa Amorosa is a paradise for children and adults alike.

Seen from the house, the hill village of Casole d’Elsa will naturally be one of guests’ first destinations, for its lively community fills its main street and two village squares with a great variety of events throughout the year - from its bareback July Palio horserace to concerts in the church cloisters or dances under the stars behind its castle / town hall. On a somewhat larger scale, walled Volterra dominates its hilltop and overlooks a striking clay-rich landscape. One of the oldest cities in Italy, it has both one of the largest Etruscan collections in the world in the Guarnacci museum as well as fascinating Roman ruins. The town centre is a maze of winding cobbled streets, connected with narrow, arched alleys which then open to large squares encircled with palaces that wear their centuries with grace. Siena and San Gimignano, with their wonderfully intact medieval centres are easily reached, as are the Chianti villages synonymous with ruby red wine. Should one ever feel land-locked, sandy beaches are little more than an hour away near the coastline towns of Cecina and Vada. Yet no matter how wonderful the excursion, returning down the sun-dappled drive to Villa Amorosa is bound to bring a smile.

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Things to note