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Over the years, many of our readers have asked us for opportunities to visit Italian gardens. The Romans really invented what might also be called “the architectural garden” – a space where wild flora and foliage are tamed, shaped, and interspersed with sculpture and furniture to make what many might call a horticultural room. Like all things Classical, this style was resurrected during the Renaissance and has been wildly popular among wealthy landowners ever since. Why, an Italian villa just wouldn’t be worth inviting one’s friends to if it were not surrounded by neatly clipped hedges forming labyrinths leading to colorful banks of hydrangea, archways dripping with wysteria and climbing roses, benches embraced by dogwood and jasmine, walkways lined with soaring cypress, all protected by a canopy of palm trees and umbrella pines! Throughout Italy, from Lake Maggiore to Palermo, there are countless examples of these true works of art. You can visit them for an afternoon, or you can have a rare opportunity to actually live in the midst of one for a few days. Throw your window shutters open in the morning to admire the rolling patchwork valleys laid out beyond the grape arbors; play tennis in a cocoon of live oaks; have a light lunch on the vast lawn beside the swimming pool; take a leisurely hike or bike ride through the chestnut forests; read a book in the scented herb garden – all these activities are bound to affect you the same way they were designed to affect their powerful (and stressed-out!) owners: forget your troubles, let go of your 21st-century worries, and just be happy for a while. There is something reassuring and calming about the way that an Italian garden’s design manages to keep total control over an expanse of healthy, vigorous, colorful flora. At Tuscan Secret Garden, there are no less than 800 acres of this serenity! Although you can easily visit such places as Pisa, Lucca, Siena, San Gimignano and Volterra from here, we really recommend you come to this oasis at the beginning or end of your trip, for a real vacation within your vacation.
Another reason this venue is so tranquil is that there are only twelve double rooms in the villa. They are on the ground floor or on the second and third floors. If you don’t mind climbing about 20 steps per flight, we really recommend the upstairs rooms, with their wonderful Tuscan views. These rooms also have renovated bathrooms (the one vestige of the 21st century that we all love!). No matter which floor you are on, your room will be spacious and furnished with antiques (many original to this 18th-century villa). You will find window screens, satellite TV, a safe big enough for a laptop, and a telephone with modem capability. You won’t find air conditioning, but the elevation and the massive garden keep the spot cool and breezy – so cool, in fact, that it is not open in the winter!
Also on the property are a 17th-century chapel, an ancient oil press, and the original granary. In this building, there is an apartment 20 steps up from the ground floor that’s perfect for a family. It has a spacious living room with two couches and a door leading to its private terrace; a separate eat-in kitchen with oven, gas burners, full fridge and dishwasher; a bedroom with twin beds and en suite bathroom with stall shower; a bedroom with queen canopy bed; and a hall bathroom with stall shower.
Whether you stay in the villa or the apartment, you will migrate downstairs in the morning for a continental breakfast in the garden, and from there your day can continue on the property or with a day trip followed by an afternoon swim or round of tennis.
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In Italy Online charges no booking fees or hidden extras.
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here for more information about our services.
Click here for details about Italian lodgings.
Special Offer for In Italy Online guests only!
In Low and Mid Season, stay at least four nights and get one night free
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Nightly B&B Rates for 2008 (per room) |
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Includes taxes, services & breakfast |
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Low Season: |
Mid Season: |
High Season: |
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Standard Double Room |
85.00 EURO |
110.00 EURO |
140.00 EURO |
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Standard Double Room |
125.00 EURO |
150.00 EURO |
195.00 EURO |
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Triple Room |
145.00 EURO |
180.00 EURO |
225.00 EURO |
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Triple Room(3 adults) |
155.00 EURO |
190.00 EURO |
245.00 EURO |
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Apartment (1-4 people) |
260.00 EURO |
310.00 EURO |
395.00 EURO |
Children 0-2 years old stay free in their parents’ double room.
The swimming pool is open May 15-September 30, 2008.
Click here for information
about private transfers to the property.
