La Valle

Surrounded by wheat and sunflowers

La Valle lies in the middle of open farmland, surrounded by wheat and sunflowers to one side and a small wood and the famous Crete Senesi to the other. As you approach the house from a 1 km long private gravel road bordered by oak trees you will enter into the spirit ot the remote bucolic atmosphere which surrounds the house.

La Valle is a long rectangular house built in the local stone alberese, overgrown with rambling roses, honeysuckle, solanum and mediterranean aromatic plants such as rosemary, sage, lavender and thyme. Secular oak trees grow in front of it on both sides of the stream which runs just below the house.

To the left of the house lies the pool house and, a little further off, the pool itself. The pool house, a low building also made of the local stone, was once the chicken/rabbit coop and pigsty. This building is transformed into a summer kitchen equipped with stove, fridge and freezer, dish-washer and all the necessary items (dishes, pans, cutlery, glasses, etc.) to allow the guests to use the nearby pergola for 'al fresco' meals without having to carry everything up and down the stairs from the main kitchen. The rambling pergola in vine and wistaria stretches out from the building and casts its shade over an old wooden table and chairs. A shady spot exposed to a light breeze - this is where most of the meals are likely to be taken.

The lay-out of the house follows a plan designed by Cecil Pinsent (well-known English architect, first quarter of the last century), where the main living quarters are on the first floor, whilst on the ground floor, what used to be the cowshed, has been transformed into a spectacular summer living room with 7 large windows. This brightly painted room with two central pillars holds a table tennis table and two comfortable, light-colored futon sofas. Stone benches with cushions flank the room. The large entrance door faces out onto the garden and pool.

The stairs run on the outside of the house and lead straight into a large living room with an open fireplace which has been colour washed in a sunny light chalk wash and is furnished with a large sofa and comfortable chairs, as well as a table for family games, writing or reading. The television can be found in another seated area. The room is flooded with light. Next to this room you will find a large and well-proportioned kitchen-living room. A long wooden table and chairs grace the center of the room.

This kitchen/dining room has a typically Tuscan kitchen range and fireplace covered in local travertine, a stone pinkish-gold in colour. The fireplace has been built at a waist-high level - a local feature which makes cooking over the fire much easier. The walls of the kitchen have been painted with a stunning blue chalk wash which is characteristic of the old kitchens in Tuscan peasant houses as blue was renowned to keep the lies away. The hues of the bedroom walls were equally inspired by traditional peasant colour schemes, light pinks, yellows and transparent blues.

The garden of La Valle was landscaped by the modern landscape designer Peter Curzon. The plants he chose blend in naturally with the surrounding fields and create a gentle harmony with the pergola for meals outside, the rustic pool house and the pool itself, which is exposed to the sun all day long and has been equipped with sun beds and deck chairs.
The closest village is Contignano which lies at the other side of the Orcia river at a distance of 4 km from the house. Here you will find an alimentary food shop, a bar, a butcher and a fruit and vegetable shop. For a larger choice of shops or a supermarket Chianciano Terme is at a distance of 10 km.

The property's location makes excursions to Siena, Assisi, Orvieto, Perugia, Arezzo and Florence an easy day trip. But the area below Siena, stretching from the monastery of Monte Oliveto to Montalcino and Montepulciano offers some rewarding sites that are well worth a visit.

In San Quirico d'Orcia make sure you see the Horti Leonini, an early Renaissance garden, as well as the western door in the city wall and the Collegiata (main church).

Montalcino is beautifully situated on a hill inhabited since Etruscan times, swathed in vineyards and olive groves. It is a quiet, affluent, attractive town with pretty buildings and flower-filled squares, and many shops selling the Brunello di Montalcino.

Montepulcino is a graceful Tuscan hill town, best known for its Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which was being praised by connoisseurs over 200 years ago and can certainly contend with Italy's best today.

Pienza, the unfinished 'utopian' city, was commissioned by Pope Pius II in 1459.

Chiusi is one of our favourites because of its unpretentious liveliness. Compared to Montepulciano it is uncontaminated by tourism. Chiusi has a railway station - from here it is a quick ride to the city center of Rome.

Monticchiello is a pleasant walled village, whose crooked watch-tower is visible from afar. Next to the church is a small shop which sells local linens (towels, bedspreads) and materials in pure linen. They use traditional methods and patterns and the results are extremely attractive.

Visit the abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore and the semi-derelict monastery of Sant'Anna in Camprena - a very romantic setting which served as location for the film The English Patient.

Sant'Antimo is surely one of the loveliest Romanesque buildings in all of Italy. It is hard to imagine a more sympathetic combination of architectural grace and natural setting.

Sarteano fits our picture of an unspoilt Italian village. The main square has a nice bar where you can sit outside. On the square below, in the afternoon a different bar serves excellent take away pizza.

And last but not least the landscape in this region of Tuscany is spectacular: The Crete Senesi are the eroded clay hills in the Orcia valley. These strange, pale, barren looking slopes, with their bare cliffs, broken gullies and white Jurassic limestone, look altogehter more lunar than terrestial.

Pool in winter?

Tuscany is famous for its Hot springs, belonging to a geothermical system that more or less encircles Monte Amiata, the most spectacular being Saturnia in the south west of the region. Steaming water collects in a number of white limestone basins - a rare natural spectacle and great fun to bathe in! Swimming possible both in the natural basins and in smart thermal baths. Saturnia offers a wide range of comforts and even a sauna.

Close to the property is Bagno Vignoni which has been popular since Etruscan times. St. Catherine of Siena is said to have appreciated its thearpeutic qualities, as is Lorenzo the Magnificent, whose family built the splendid arcaded pool - a kind of flooded, bubbling piazza, famously used by Tarkowsky for some of the more surreal passages of his film Nolstalgia. Not far from this antique piazza there is a hotel with a lovely open air swimming pool, fed from hot springs. This is also available to external guests.

Bagni San Filippo may go into the books as the world's smallest thermal spa - a telephone booth, a few old houses, outdoor spring in the middle of the woods with glistening limestone formations and one small hotel with a public pool.

The Montepulciano thermal springs can also be enjoyed in an indoor thermal swimming pool.

Just 10 km from the property you will find the thermal spa Terme di Chianciano with a highly modern health and thermal centre. Those wanting to combine holidays with a wellness break can enjoy fango baths, cosmetic and therapeutic treatments, solarium, massages and hydromassages. Have yourself thoroughly pampered! Just relax here!