Location

Arezzo centre and train station - 6kms
Florence (by car) - 85 kms
Rome (by car) - 225 kms

Description

Located a only a short drive outside of Arezzo, this Italian 'villa padronale' is on three floors with a central tower room forming and extra level. Located on a gently sloping hill, the villa is in a tiny cluster of dwellings and surrounded by the Tuscan countryside and woodland. The tower, dating back to the 1100 A.C. dominates the building and forms the central core whilst the lateral wings, typical of Tuscan structures, were added in the 18th century. The property comes with about 3, 000 square metres of land and the state and layout of this property gives an eventual owner the possibility to immediately enjoy and potentially restore an interesting and historical building.

The ground floor of the villa, as one would expect, consists of series of storage rooms and cellars that are pretty much in their original state and provide plenty of space that could be used in a variety of ways. Bearing in mind that there is so much space within the main body of the building, these rooms could be merely cleaned up and left as they are or be converted as desired. They would be ideal spaces for a gym, a cinema room, a home spa; the possibilities are endless! Also on the ground floor, but independently accessed from the front of the building, is a little chapel as well as an additional room that would be an ideal laundry or a place to store garden equipment.

The 'piano nobile' is accessed via a pretty set of double stone stairs that are decorated with original iron railings. The main door opens into a stunning, almost square room dominated by a beautiful fireplace and the striking high ceiling which is entirely constructed of wood. Original painted borders decorate the lower section of the wall as well as the area just under the ceiling. To one side of the sitting room are two bedrooms one of which has a large bathroom ensuite, a W.C. and a walk in wardrobe located in the corridor. The bathroom is paved with original tiles which are similar to the more sober examples that are currently hidden, undamaged, under the wooden flooring in the sitting room and other areas on this level.

To the other side of the sitting room is a third bedroom with ensuite bathroom. On this same side of the villa is the dining room which, again, is decorated, but this time the ceiling has barrel vaults with the original decoration intact. A similarly painted arch separates the dining room from an extra sitting area and this extremely attractive space, which has two light-giving, arched windows, leads to the kitchen which in turn leads back to the dining room.

To the rear of the building is a large wooden door that opens into a ground floor hallway from which the above mentioned lower level cantinas and storage areas can be accessed. Stairs from this hallway lead to the 'piano nobile' and above, allowing alternative access to the rest of the building; perfect for an eventual renovation project as the modernised floor could be totally excluded from the remainder of the building due to the external stairs to the front of the property.

The rear stairs, as mentioned, lead up to the second floor where there is a lovely large sun room with a number of windows which, in the event of restoration, could also allow access from the rear of the building by means of external scaffolding. This second floor is habitable and has a couple of working bathrooms and several bedrooms. The landing naturally divides the second floor into two parts and this division could be ignored or maintained in order to provide two separate apartments if necessary. Whatever the choice, there is a huge amount of space that can be developed in a number of ways. One room on this floor is particularly special; it sits directly above the sitting room on the first floor, is exactly the same size and looks out over the gardens that sit to the front of the property. This room also provides access to the tower room via a set of wooden steps.

This square, top floor tower room is an amazing space and due to the surrounding trees, it almost feels like you are in a nest or tree house. It would be very tempting to fit a trap door rather than a traditional staircase in order to create a sort of floating room with no visible means of access; perfect for a studio of some sort, a library or merely a room to escape to!

The formal garden and main driveway is to the front of the villa and and to the rear there are two outbuildings requiring renovation and measuring 250 and 35 square metres respectively.

A stunning property located a short drive from Arezzo where all amenities are available. Arezzo also has a main line train station land access to the A1 motorway.