Description
On the foothills of Casentino, not far from Arezzo and Subbiano, a 17th-century farmhouse with guesthouse and outbuildings for sale. The property (469 sqm), tastefully and carefully restored by the current owner, retains all original features and currently houses a total of 5 bedrooms with large and elegant living areas. The 40.5 hectares surrounding the buildings are covered with woods and olive trees (7.3 ha).
The property is located on the hills that divide the Arno Valley from the Tiber Valley, in an almost uncontaminated natural environment: this strategic location along the ancient transhumance route between the Alpe di Catenaia and the Maremma allows one to reach, in addition to the city of Arezzo (which is 15’ away by car), the most beautiful places of the upper Casentino such as the sanctuaries of Camaldoli and La Verna and those of the Tiber Valley, such as Anghiari and Sansepolcro. Even the city of Florence can be reached in less than an hour.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDINGS, STATE AND FINISHES
The villa (351 sqm – 3,777 sqft, 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms) dates back to the early 17th century, but the history of the place can be traced back much further. The presence of a natural spring, which still feeds the basin in front of the villa, allowed the area to be already inhabited in ancient times. As early as the early 14th century, houses and a small church dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel (deconsecrated in the early 18th century) are documented. The farmhouse itself dates back to the 17th century and was inhabited by farmers until the 1960. The history of the place and the house has been meticulously studied by the owner, who published her own research in 2019.
A large arched doorway leads to the ground floor into a spacious entrance hall where one can admire the old stone oven, still in perfect working order. Also on the ground floor one enters a large kitchen with a fireplace, connected to the pantry and the basement by a convenient internal staircase. On the same floor we then find a large dining room, a service bathroom and a large living room used as a library, with access to a panoramic terrace from which, on clear summer evenings, one can see the lights of Arezzo and, in the background, the profile of Mount Cetona.
An ancient pietra serena staircase and a modern elevator connect the ground floor to the first floor, where is an imposing central hall with an ancient stone fireplace, four large and comfortable double bedrooms and two bathrooms. The gallery under the roof has been used as a small bedroom/office space.
Terracotta has been laid in the living area, while a warm parquet floor has been chosen for the sleeping area; the walls are perfectly plastered, all ceilings have exposed beams and terracotta tiles, recovered, where possible, with the sandblasting technique. The old terracotta and stone fireplaces, the internal staircase and the door jambs on the ground floor, also made of hand-engraved pietra serena, as well as the old terracotta arches that decorate all the windows make this property special and unique.
A short distance from the main house is the old church cottage (42 sqm – 452 sqft, 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom) that has been renovated creating on the lower floor a comfortable and useful storage room with window and on the upper floor a studio apartment with bathroom and cooking corner, suitable for accommodating friends and relatives in total privacy.
The rural outbuildings (76 sqm – 818 sqft), once used for animal shelter and various services of the farmhouse, have been fully renovated and are currently used as a woodshed and technical rooms for the house.
EXTERIORS
The villa is surrounded by a beautiful garden full of trees and flowers. The property as a whole covers about 40.5 hectares (100.0 acres), more than half of which is covered by mixed woodland (18.7 ha) and chestnut grove (13.2 ha). The property’s well-maintained and productive olive grove stretches for about 7.3 ha arranged all around the villa, with small portions of arable land (1.1 ha) on which additional olive trees and/or crops could be planted.
The space around the house, coupled with the large availability of water in the area, would make it easy to build a panoramic Infinity-edge pool with unparalleled views of the green Casentino hills surrounding the villa.
USE AND POTENTIAL USES
The property, as a whole, lends itself very well to multiple uses.
A large family that was looking for a home in which to live in full contact with nature but at the same time not far from services would find the ideal place here. Alternatively, the villa could be converted into a B&B and/or vacation home with potential conversion of the old stables into a small wellness center for the guests. Finally, the estate could be managed in the form of an Agriturismo if the new owners wanted to try their hand at agricultural activities, which could include olive production alone, new organic crops and even animal breeding.
CLOSEST CITIES AND TOWNS
Town with services (3km; 5’), Arezzo (14km; 20’), Bibbiena (20km; 25’), Anghiari (21km; 30’), Poppi (27km; 35’), Sansepolcro (29km; 40’), Castiglion Fiorentino (31km; 40’), Chiusi della Verna (32km; 40’), Bucine (37km; 45’), Cortona (42km; 55’), Monte Santa Maria Tiberina (43km; 1h), Città di Castello (44km; 45’), Montepulciano (64km; 1h 5’), Umbertide (64km; 1h), Pienza (72km; 1h 15’), Florence (85km; 1h 15’), Siena (87km; 1h 25’), Gubbio (92km; 1h 30’), Perugia (95km; 1h 25’), San Gimignano (131km; 1h 50’), Volterra (152km; 2h 5’), Pisa (169km; 2h 5’), Rome (229km; 2h 40’)
CLOSEST AIRPORTS
Firenze A. Vespucci (106km; 1h 20’), Forlì L. Ridolfi (129km; 2h), Grosseto C. Baccarini (152km; 2h 5’), Rimini F. Fellini (159km; 2h 15’), Pisa G. Galilei (166km; 2h), Bologna G. Marconi (187km; 2h 5’), Roma Ciampino (243km; 2h 40’), Roma Fiumicino (257km; 2h 40’)
