Description
Now booking for 2025...
The Villa:
Newly built in 2011, this is a 2 bedroom / 2 bathroom villa with spacious garden and private 10 x 5m pool (not suitable for small children / non swimmers as the shallowest end is 1.2M).
We have tried to create a house of traditional architecture with a very contemporary interior and used high quality fixtures and furniture throughout.
Mature hedged garden with views over fields and hills with lower garden, separated by bank populated with Rosemary, Lavender, Oregano, Mint and Roses, having several olive trees.
Volterra can be accessed by car in 10 minutes, or by bike in about 30 ( good level of fitness required!) There is a restaurant and a basic shop within walking distance.
Minimum stay is 7 nights, however changeover days are flexible and any duration over 7 days is flexible also.
This may help you select cheaper flights (Saturday flights are typically much more expensive) .
Prices:
€1500 per 7 days mid season (June - July 25th, then September onwards)
€1800 per 7 days High Season (4th week July and August)
Volterra
A beautiful medieval city with restaurants (over 30?), bars, Cinema, Theatre and a real community spirit which often hosts events (Classic car meetings, crossbow and archery competitions, live music festivals etc)
Villa - detailed description
Upstairs Bedroom has super-king double bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers... and amazing views.
Upstairs bathroom has twin basins and bath with shower attachment, plus bidet and toilet.
Downstairs Bedroom has 2 x single beds and spacious double wardrobe with shelves.
All bedlinen is high quality Egyptian cotton, similarly all bathroom towels are of highest quality.
Downstairs bathroom has basin and a shower plus bidet and toilet.
Kitchen is well equipped an includes a dishwasher and washing machine, plus oven with grill, gas hob and large standalone fridge / freezer. Tuscany is a food lovers paradise and apart from the great restaurants, you'll find the kitchen well equipped with everything to cook to your hearts content (we have no Microwave though). There should be a great supply of all the basics (spices / flour / local pressed olive oils / plus a basket of local goodies to get you started if you arrive late or just fancy an easy meal one evening)
Whilst the house is technically a small 2 bedroom house, you'll find that all rooms (apart from the sitting room) are very generously proportioned. The sitting room is cosy with a woodburning stove and SMART TV / DVD. As we really only use this room in the winter, we love it being cosy.
As of 2019, we installed satellite WIFI which generally performs at a similar speed to our UK broadband.
The garden is spacious and open to the country on 3 sides. On the 4th side is our neighbours farmhouse. Apart from that house, the nearest other houses are approximately 1/4 mile away. The garden has a shaded terrace to enjoy lunch or dinner around a 6 seater teak table. There is a Weber barbeque + four sunlounger chairs. The upper garden leads down to a lower garden with Olive trees. The bank between the 2 gardens is planted with Rosemary, Oregano, Mint, Thyme, Lavender etc... so you may find these useful for cooking... or you may just enjoy the butterflies and bees.
There is also a table-tennis table which is suitable for outdoor use ... it keeps many people well entertained.
The house has water and central heating by gas boiler.
We are in the countryside.. and sometimes the countryside can be quite noisy, with tractors, combined harvesters (the farms are all arable.. so no cattle attracting flies ) and birds chirping. We live in the city in England and were surprised how much you hear when there is no 'normal' background noise.
The garden is great for watching fireflies (in June) and the local area can have stunning poppyfields in Late April to June. The stars here are amazing, with so little light pollution the night sky is stunning.
Surrounding Area
Within easy driving distance are Florence, Pisa and Siena (though we'd recommend the train to Florence).
Other great places to visit are Lucca (1.5hrs) plus Pontedera for good shopping and a great Piaggo (Vespa scooters amongst other things ) Museum.
There are great seasonal events... black and white truffle festivals in spring and autumn. The Medieval events in July in Volterra, plus the Palio in Seina and the a jousting festival in Pisa. No matter how many times you've seen the leaning tower of Pisa in photos, you'll be speechless when you see it in life. There is also quite an upmarket clothes-shopping area in Pisa.
Chianti is just over an hour away, however there are some excellent vineyards within 30 minutes where you can sample / buy great wines.
There is an olive press within walking distance of the house. Apart from Olive Oil they also sell local specialist honeys.
Whilst we don't leave recommendations for restaurants or places to visit, we are always on hand to provide information. The visitors book in the house tells of some lovely places that we then go and discover!