Perhaps upon awakening in the morning, you'd like to yank open the doors, fling back the shutters, and listen to the song birds as you gaze upon the Tuscan vegetable gardens below a forested hillside. Ah, well, this place in the countryside might be just for you. It was for us when we bought it 20 years ago.
At the time, the kitchen was empty, a not-so-often occurance in Italy, so, since we like to cook, we set out purchasing a 5 burner gas stove with electric convection oven and getting someone to lay out the counters and things. We used the local materials: Cararra marble for the countertops, and Chestnut wood for the cabinet fronts and for the chimney. We hid a dishwasher inside. You don't want people to think you're modern, this is rural Tuscany for heaven's sake.
The bones of the house are 16th century. The Medicis, I was told, built this cluster of houses as a sort of Agricultural base where they could teach the locals the variety of crops they could plant--most of them subsisted upon a diet based on chestnuts at the time, the flour made into bread and pasta. So, inside this complex is still a communal kitchen. Neighbor Francesca lives in what was the chapel, so if you go inside you would see that her kitchen was the apse. Fancesca is found in her kitchen making the local dishes she's made for years, including a very good version of Torta d'erbe.
Later, what was to become our apartment was an attic, used during the war as a place to hide from the Nazis who had commandeered the lower apartments. Then the roof was raised and insulated, and the place restored with wood floors, and a big bathroom was installed with both a bath and shower.
But I'm ahead of myself. Here it is in its setting, the yellow box representing the house, bathroom on the left, enormous living room in the center, and two bedrooms on the right.
A Look Inside
Here are some pictures of the interior. The furnishings you see can be left, or taken away, as you please.
The bathroom is quite large, and there is both a tub and a shower. The Bosch washer can stay if you wish.
The Kitchen
The Living Room: Soggiorno
Yes, we had a pellet stove installed by an Italian handyman.
The balcony in back
Here's where you sit in the evenings with a glass of wine to watch the fireflies light up the night.
Need a Minute of Video About the Lunigiana?
Need to Know More?
The home is walking distance from Saffron farm in the town of Bigliolo, known for its cranberry beans. There's a big festival every year celebrating them. A neighbor has land around there he farms. One evening he made a simple but oh, so delicious pasta fagioli for us from these extraordinary beans. He also found in his fields one of the most interesting stelle statues in the Lunigiana.
Some folks might be calling these Lunigiana valleys "sleepy", but perhaps they didn't look hard or deep enough, because these seemingly sleepy valleys teem with life.
There are plenty of opportunities to walk in the Lunigiana, including trails right out the back of the casa, which are also wide enough to accommodate mountain biking and horse riding.
For a supermarket and a bar, Serriciolo is a 20 minute walk away, or 5 minutes driving, unless you drive like an Italian, in which case you'll save yourself 2 minutes.
Contact Information
For information about this home from the owner, James: email
Here is another look at the property, in English: First floor apartment.