Rustic Elegance...

The Villa sets in the middle of 2200 acres of the Estates
Vineyards & Olive Groves

 Rustic Elegance  What exactly does that mean?

So we often describe our Villa in Tuscany as "Rustic Elegance" and we like to be careful to set realistic expectations as to what that means, and not to confuse our guests who might think we're implying "luxurious"... because we are not... What you'll find at our Villa, is a grand Estate... It's profile is substantial... It's solid as rock, because it is indeed a small stone castle!  Carved wooden antique furniture... stone slab steps... thick functional wooden shutters with hammered iron hardware...

The Grand Terrace provides a spectacular venue for all of our
leisure activities at The Villa

This magnificent 400 year old Villa has, over time,  been the property of royalty, and many times the property of what can only be considered wealthy families... but it is not a 5 Star Ritz Carlton...  This a truly magnificent, majestic, rustically elegant & authentic 400 year old tower-style Stone Castle Villa... (built in 1621, the year the Pilgrims celebrated the original Thanksgiving here in the USA). 

the ground floor Loggia where we enjoy many of our dinner parties

When we say this is an authentic Tuscan Villa... you'll feel this authenticity the moment you walk through the doors... Things will be different than what you're probably used to here in the United States... There's air conditioning, but it's likely not quite as efficient as that top of line system you have back in the US that'll make ice cubes, but you'll be comfortable... The Villa is massive - over 10,000+ sq ft throughout 4 floors with 2 ft thick stone walls & a spiral staircase winding up thru the Tower... 

the formal dining room serves as the setting for our Breakfast
Buffet, and opens out onto the loggia

The look of this small castle is punctuated by two rows of massive arches on the front of the Villa framing two very large outdoor Terraces, and a very large historic wood-fired bread & pizza oven built into the wall on the upstairs Terrace......

There's 7 bedrooms, each with it's own private bath, two large living rooms, with a fireplace in one... 

There's a wonderfully large kitchen with another massive cooking fireplace & a farmhouse table that seats 12, and a separate more formal dining room that also seats 12... And then, as if that's not enough,  there's even two more dining areas outside where we usually enjoy most of our meals; one rectangular table under the large vaulted porticos on ground floor leading out onto the Terrace, and yet another huge round table under the vine-covered loggia overlooking the vineyards & olive groves where we often enjoy our daily Happy Hours...  

The rustic beauty of this historic Villa is just wonderful...   There's beautiful original hand-formed Terra-Cotta bricks on the floors and even in the vaulted ceilings... There's massive 18 inch exposed hand-hewn Chestnut beams throughout the structure... and 2" thick functional wood shutters with heavy hammered iron hardware swinging open from the windows...  This Villa is no "Disney come lately replication" by Marriot or Hilton, this is the real deal! Built 150 years before George Washington crossed the Delaware! You'll love this place!   Upstairs, there's three more grand arched porticos that give way to yet another amazing seating area and gathering spot with views to die for overlooking the hills of Chianti and our "home base" Village of Radda-in-Chianti

Go ahead, take your shoes off..
The vibe is casual here... it's just us

There's two large electronic gates that secure the half mile long, tree lined private road into the property... and what would a Tuscan Villa be without a beautiful in-ground pool and a 40 ft by 80 ft Grand Terra-Cotta entertainment Terrace! 

And while all of this sounds like something out of "Under The Tuscan Sun"  here's what really throws it over-the-top: This magnificent Villa sets on a hilltop surrounded by Rose Gardens, Fig trees, fragrant  Jasmine Vines & Rosemary hedges in the middle of 2200 Acres of Italy's finest Vineyards, Olive Groves & Magical Forests on one of Tuscany's most prominent Wine & Olive Oil Estates...

Understand, this is not just a themed hospitality center with a tasting room; this is a honest to God real working Wine & Olive Oil Estate with thousands of acres of grape vines, extensive maceration & fermentation operations,  massive barrel & keg rooms and their own on-site bottling operations... It is indeed a very large wine farm! When we tell you "Truly unique, authentic and immersive, escorted and guided experiential adventure expeditions to Tuscany" we mean it... and we're gonna put you smack-dab it the middle of it! You'll meet and get to interact with a lot of our close friends we've made over the decades we've spent working in Tuscany! (And yes, there's a hamlet with a huge Castle & a historic Winery on the Estate, and as our guests, you'll be treated like family when we visit).

Adventures to Tuscany ~ making vacations fun again!

We'll tell you lots more about this incredible Wine & Olive Oil Estate in future posts, but suffice it to say this is no neighborhood winery.   Castello di Albola is one of Italy's premier Wine Estates and bottles over 1.5 million bottles a year... and distributes and sells their wines in over 135 countries around the world!  

Adventures to Tuscany... the real Italian Villa experience! Truly unique, authentic and immersive, escorted and guided experiential adventure expeditions to Tuscany...  What makes us different, makes all the difference in the world!