Villa San Giovanni

Overlooking the spectacular Tuscan countryside

Villa San Giovanni is located in the hilltop village of San Giovanni d'Asso (with the River Asso running below). It is a very large villa, originally a palace which, over the centuries, among others, was owned by the Bishop of Pienza and members of the Siennese noble Montepulciano family. The hanging garden is extensive, well-tended and gives you peace and privacy: It is u-shaped and surrounded by buildings on three sides. The two small sides are uninhabited (a church to the left/a lemon greenhouse and a former laundry house to the right). Therefore, no one can see the property from above (except from a balloon :-) Flower beds, shrubs, lemon trees in vases and palm trees decorate the formally designed, upper part of the garden - the lower part comprises a lawn and a pool located on a large sun terrace. The long, open side of the garden overlooks the spectacular landscape of the Crete Senesi and faces towards south-east.

Unbelievable but true: As holiday guests, you have this property all for yourselves! Yes indeed - all buildings: Villa San Giovanni starts next to the church with bell tower and comprises all the buildings bordering the garden. The living rooms are in the light brown building with lots of windows, which extends along the length of the garden. The spacious rooms with high ceilings overlook the wide valley. The villa is laid out on two floors.

The ground floor comprises a large entrance hall, from which you enter into the beautiful, formally designed, XIXth century garden; 2 sitting rooms, 2 dining rooms (one dining room seats comfortably 12, the other 8 people), one of which leads out onto a large, sunny terrace, equipped with 2 dining tables and 6 chairs each (several smaller tables are arranged in the garden below); furthermore on the ground floor there is a fully equipped kitchen with all domestic appliances and cooking accessories (fridge freezer, dishwasher, washing machine, gas hob and fan assisted electric oven); 3 bedrooms (1 double, 1 twin which can be arranged as double, 1 single), 3 bathrooms.

The first floor comprises 4 bedrooms (2 twin-bedded rooms one of which can be arranged as double, 2 doubles), 3 bathrooms. There is another 8th bedroom (double) in a mezzanine above the first floor.

5 double bedrooms (of a total of 8 bedrooms) are equipped with air-conditioning, the other 3 have ceiling fans or standing fans. The villa is elegantly furnished with antique furniture.

The private swimming pool is maintained daily by the gardener. From here, you have an especially nice view of the picturesque landscape. A pergola next to the pool provides shade, and an outside shower additional coolness. Next to the pool is a large changing room, which was the original laundry room to the villa, and which contains a toilet and large fridge freezer suitable for poolside drinks and snacks.

Maid cleaning service 4 hours 6 days per week, all bed linen, bath, kitchen and pool towels and the final cleaning are included in the price! A parking is 60 m from the house, but you can reach the square in front of the house with your car to load and unload your suitcases and shopping bags.

On a neighbouring property, another villa for six (belonging to the same property owner) can be rented: La Capannina (also featured in our portfolio). The two properties can be connected by opening a garden gate. Rented together Villa San Giovanni plus La Capannina (each house with private pool) can sleep a group of 21 people.

San Giovanni is a small village with approximately 300 inhabitants. The villa is situated in the upper part of the village - the "Borghetto", directly opposite the ancient castle, the origins of which date back to the XIIth century, and which is now the seat of the municipal authorities. The territory of San Giovanni includes the hamlets of Montisi, Lucignano d'Asso, Monterongriffoli, Vergelle and Pieve a Salti. (San Giovanni was originally the seat of rural Etruscan settlements, an area contested by both the Bishops of Arezzo and Siena, and it was sacked by the Ghibellines in 1315. It assumed a more precise definition of its municipal boundaries with the General Regulation of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1777.) The castle hosts the famous White Truffle Market in the month of November.

The ancient romanesque church of San Giovanni Battista is near to the castle, while in the lower part of the village lies the most important church in the area, the beautiful San Pietro in Villore, built in the XIth and XIIth centuries, and which is now surrounded by many cypresses. Within the municipal territory is the picturesque village of Montisi, with its Chiesa dell'Annunziata and its historical grain tower. Here, every year, on the Sunday nearest to the 5th of August (the Festival of the Madonna delle Nevi, the patron saint of Montisi) a jousting contest - the "Giostra di Simone" - takes place. Among the agricultural products of the area, the white truffle is prized and famous throughout Italy, as are the excellent wines, oil, savoury cheeses and honey. In this upper part of the village there is a fine restaurant.

The lower part of San Giovanni d'Asso has an 'osteria' (simple restaurant), a baker and butcher, a pharmacy, a post office, a supermarket and cafe/bar. There are public tennis courts 8 km away at Torrenieri, the famous abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore is 7 km away, the thermal spa town of San Quirico d'Orcia is 14 km away, Montalcino 17 km and Pienza 20 km. The beautiful medieval city of Siena lies some 40 km away, and Florence and San Gimignano are within a day's drive. There is no public transport in San Giovanni, and it is essential therefore to have a car. The nearest airports are approximately 2 and a half hours' equidistant drive away from Rome, Florence and Pisa.

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.

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.

In Rapolano Terme there are two wonderful thermal spas - particulary beautiful are the San Giovanni Terme.

The Montepulciano thermal springs can also be enjoyed in an indoor thermal swimming pool. Have yourself thoroughly pampered! Just relax here!