Casa della Vista

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Farmhouse |2 bedrooms |Sleeps 5

Sorana in Pescia

From £415 per week |  From £65 per night

1 night minimum stay

Changeover flexible

3.5 out of 5

1 review | Write a review

Key info  Swimming pool, air conditioning, balcony/terrace, car advised, private garden, pets welcome

About the home

With a beautiful location set below the small, medieval hill village of Sorana, this is a traditional stone farmhouse retaining all the usual beautiful Tuscan features of cotto floors, chestnut beams and an open fireplace.

Outside there are private olive groves for the children to play in, a terrace for al fresco dining, BBQ for outdoor cooks and a pool for cooling off in the glorious summer days - all with spectacular views of the Pescia valley. Two of the best restaurants in the area are just down the road or there is further fine dining in and around the local town of Pescia, less than 15 minutes drive away

Open all year around, this house offers a quiet retreat from which to explore the surrounding hills on foot to local villages such as Vellano, Castelveccio, Fibialla or Medicina.

Facilities

Further details indoors:
The accommodation is on two floors with the kitchen, shower room and one lounge/bedroom downstairs and the master bedroom and second lounge/bedroom upstairs

The main bedroom has a queen size bed with chest of drawers and wardrobe whilst the upstairs second room has a large stone grate with cast iron fire, large bed sette and cabin bed. Downstairs, the lounge has a sofabed and is equipped with an air conditioning unit

The kitchen is fully equipped with utensils and pans, with a 5 ring gas bottle-powered cooker complete with oven

There is also an under-house storage room which contains the garden furniture and washing machine

Further details outdoors:
The house is part of a working olive farm so the groves are open and available for exploration, although care should be taken down some of the steep slopes

There is also a hand-built stone barbecue and outside dining area, ideal for summer evening cooking and eating outside

The pool is a 15' by 8' plunge pool, perfect for cooling off during the long hot Tuscan summer days.

Further details

There is a 300m walk from a car park through the village and down a path to get to the door, which is a little steep in places. Whilst this makes for a quiet and private location it means access would be difficult for elderly, infirm or disabled guests

Conditions

A deposit of 50% of the rental is required to secure a booking, with the balance due 6 weeks before arrival

Photos

 

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Casa della Vista

 

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View from top terrace down Pescia valley

 

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Casa della Vista pool

 

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Downstairs sitting room

The Tuscany / Pistoia Province region

Tuscany, the cradle of modern European culture, contains treasures of every age and style, from the Etruscan theatre and Roman baths at Fiesole, to the majestic Gothic buildings in the medieval town of Siena, to the exceptional art and architecture of Florence. The cities of Tuscany have produced writers, scientists, architects, musicians and artists whose works have literally changed the world.

The immense dome of Florence’s Duomo, designed by Brunelleschi, inspired Michelangelo’s design for the dome of St. Peter’s in Rome, and influenced architecture in towns throughout Italy. Modern science and technology have their roots in the experiments of Galileo and other researchers. Puccini was born in Lucca. Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio broke with traditional Latin and wrote in the Italian language, establishing the Tuscan dialect as Italy’s literary language and things Tuscan as the measure of culture and refinement.

The peaceful Tuscan landscape is primarily rolling hills, with vineyards, olive groves, cypress trees and hilltop villages all bathed in a soft, amber light. To many it seems familiar, and rightly so: during the Renaissance it was often used as the backdrop for the paintings of the masters. The rustic Tuscan farmhouse, made of local stone and set atop a hill flanked by lines of cypress trees, is a sight unique to Tuscany and accurately reflects the situation of the house at Casa della Vista. Silent medieval hilltowns, with their fortified castle walls and church steeples visible in the distance, are a part of the landscape: San Gimignano, Volterra, Montepulciano, Cortona. Tuscany’s olive groves yield some of Italy’s finest extra virgin olive oil, but the heart of the region is in its vineyards, particularly the Chianti Classico, where you can visit fattorie (wine estates), to sample and purchase their wines.

In Tuscany there is huge emphasis on food and the family. Most Tuscan meals begin with crostini, slices of bread that are lightly toasted and topped with anything from chicken liver to myrtle to olive paste; acquacotta, a thin vegetable soup, and panzanella, a soup made from leftover bread soaked in vinegar and vegetables are among the many bread-based soups. Simplicity and flavour are the guiding principles of Tuscan cooking: pasta, served with a sauce of vegetables or meat; salviata, an omelette with fresh sage; or lesso rifatto con le cipolle, a stew of leftover boiled beef smothered in long-simmered onions, are classic embodiments of this philosophy.

Finally wine - Vin Santo is one of the region’s renowned sweet wines, often served with cantuccini di Prato, dry almond cookies, for dipping. Among the other great wines of Tuscany are Tignanello, Sassacaia, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, and the famous Brunello di Montaleino.

The Pescia / Sorana area

Sorana is situated along the valley north of Pescia known as the Dieci Castella region. This takes it's names from the 10 villages that line the valley hills and hilltops, each of which has a church with bell tower. During medeival and in more recent periods of upheaval like the second world war the towers acted as prime lookout posts for defence of the area

There are some beautiful places to visit in the Pescia valley and surrounding area in Northern Tuscany and Casa della Vista is the ideal location to use as a base from which to venture out or to relax and enjoy the fabulous views and perfect weather in summer. Alternatively you can relax in the shadow of the olive groves, cooling off in the pool or nip down to Chiesa Uzzano, near the Autostrada for a day at the Don Carlos water park

Local villages such as Vellano, Fibialla, Castlevecchio, Aramo, San Quirico, Collodi and Medicina can all be explored on foot from the old mule tracks that run from right outside the front door of the house or the historic walled city of Lucca is only a 30 minute drive

Florence is about an hour's drive, if you want to risk the hairy Italian city traffic or the rail link from Pescia is regular and reliable and will allow you to take in the scenery across the rolling north Tuscan hills

Perhaps the best way to experience the hospitable local people and their culture is to dine in the local restaurants or visit the Saturday market in Pescia. At the bottom of the hill leading up to Sorana village is Trattoria Da Sandrino, which serves a marvellous aray of local produce including various game dishes, wild boar, the best fillet steak you will ever taste and the world-famous Sorana beans. Another dish not to be missed is the 'Pollo Arrosto', or roast chicken, at the Pescia 'Mercato' on Saturday morning, but don't be late as they stop serving at about 1230!

The whole area around Pistoia is rich in the history of Italian culture and famous names. You can visit the birthplaces of Leonardo da Vinci and Puccini or take in many festivals, markets and other gatherings across the region. Not many of the locals speak English, so a smattering of Italian or a good phrasebook are essential!!

How to get there

Casa della Vista What's nearby: Attractions Restaurants Click map icons for more information

Reset Map

Fly to Pisa or Florence from most UK airports

Cheap flights available from Ryanair or EasyJet to Pisa or Meridiana to Florence
House only an hour from either airport

Easy driving directions from Autoroute A11 between Pisa and Florence

Regular train service from airport to local town of Pescia near the house

Bus or taxi transfers from Pescia to Sorana if required

Activities near Pescia

Reviews

Review: 1 to 1 of 1

05 Oct 2011

“Superb Location, Friendly Village” The property is in a very private location, superb for a get away from it all break. The village is lovely, the locals very friendly and a great regular bus service down to the nearest town Pescia. The property is great, but small and quite cramped for 5 people. It is directly joining two derelict properties. The pool is not 25' long and did not have a working filter, and was not that clean. It was a small ground top pool. There is a stand alone air conditioning unit in one room only, the downstairs living room ( which doubles up as one of the bedrooms). You had to lead the outlet pipe out of one of the windows, which had to remain open, which made the aircon much less effective. I would not say the location is suitable for young children unless you want to spend the holiday following them around as the olive grove was overgrown and a very steep drop down the hill near the pool and patio areas. The mule track was overgrown in summer and we were advised not to walk down it by the locals, due to snakes and wild boar. The terms and conditions on booking stated that the electricity was very fragile in times of high demand. However, we experienced the trip switch fusing every time we used the bathroom or had a shower, several times a day/night. We have alerted the owner to this as there appears to be a problem on the circuit. The cooker handle was broken which created a problem when we tried to cook something as the door of the oven heated up to a very high temperature, quite dangerous. There was not enough seating for 4 of us outside for al fresco dining. we had to use one of the deck chairs, which was unsuitable. We have let theowner know all of the above and having said all that, we had a super holiday in a fantastic location and a rustic Tuscan farmhouse with its quirky charm. We are the adventurous type so managed to overcome the above niggles, but for those who maybe require a bit of luxury, you might be frustrated. Response: The dimensions of the pool have been changed on the description to 15' by 8' - thanks for pointing this out. this size of pool is still plenty big enough to accommodate a family of 4 splashing around. If the filter issue had been reported, we coud have fixed it - not having a working filter will make it difficult to keep the pool clean. We have found that the air conditioning unit is more than adequate to keep that room cool during the hot summer. We have never had any trouble with young children staying at the property and our experience is that the olive groves provide great adventures for them. We will make sure that the tracks past the house are strimmed in future but there has never been an issue with anyone being attacked by snakes or wild boar. However, as described in the house summary, it is located in a hillside village in northern Tuscany. If local wildlife is not something guests are comfortable with, then this is not the property for them. The electricity has been checked and circuit breakers replaced and the cooker handle repaired. There are four chairs in the under house storeroom and four more wooden chairs in the house which can be moved outside when there are more than 4 guests dining. There should be no need to try and use a deckchair. The house is not described as 'a luxury villa' - it is a rustic Tuscan farmhouse. As most of our guests find, it is the location and quiet which enables people to have a calm, relaxing holiday. Thank you for the rest of your comments

Review: 1 to 1 of 1

Reviews powered by

Guestbook for Casa della Vista

"Thank you for renting us your beautiful house. The views are superb and we had a wonderfully relaxing holiday"

J-V, Netherlands

"Casa della Vista has a great location and we really enjoyed using it as our base to explore Northern Tuscany. See you next year!"

M Oliver, Dublin

Rental prices

Prices for group size 5
Period	From	To	Weekly	Nightly rate		Minimum  stay
				Weekday	Weekend
High Season	19 Dec 09	3 Jan 10	495£ 495	9090	150150	Flexible
Low Season	3 Jan 10	28 Mar 10	415£ 415	6565	125125	Flexible
Mid Season	28 Mar 10	11 Apr 10	450£ 450	7575	135135	Flexible
Low Season	11 Apr 10	3 Jul 10	415£ 415	6565	125125	Flexible
High Season	3 Jul 10	12 Sep 10	495£ 495	9090	150150	Flexible
Low Season	12 Sep 10	19 Dec 10	415£ 415	6565	125125	Flexible

The property's weekend rates apply to: Saturday and Sunday nights

NB: Prices may be subject to change at the advertiser's discretion.

Payment by bank transfer or Pay Pal.

Availability

See below for next 9 months' availability - to see the next 24 months click here

Contact the owner

* Required fields Please check the following errors: First name * Last name * Email *   Did you mean ""? Yes / No Phone number Arrival date Departure date   Ignore calendar - enquire anway No. of adults No. of children Message * Email me special offers and holiday ideas T&Cs

2 years listed You are contacting Kevin Magee Landline n/a Mobile +44 7956 556301 Payment accepted Credit cards accepted PayPal accepted Languages spoken The owner is based in the United Kingdom and has advertised with Holiday Lettings since 2009. This farmhouse has received 1 review from previous guests.