Smerillo holiday home to let with walking, log fire, balcony/terrace, rural retreat, TV, DVD

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Casa Girasole (house)

Home description

It is the location of the house which makes it a wonderful place for a relaxing holiday. It is set on a hill below the beautiful town of Smerillo which glows in the sun on summer evenings. Across a valley to the North the view is of Monte San Martino sitting atop a cliff and from the front of the house which basks all day in the sun from the south, the view is of the Sibillini mountains about 8 miles distant.
The top peaks of this majestic chain reach to over 8,000 feet and as the sun rises in the morning and pours down onto the mounatin tops they dominate the landscape.
The house sits on about half an acre of land with figs, walnuts, olives and grapevines and the surrounding agricultural landscape is of sunflowers, vineyards and olive groves.
This is a lovely place to birdwatch (little owls, buzzards, partridges, peregrine falcons,sparrowhawks and even a hoopoe all spotted nearby) or look for other wildlife on walks over tracks through woods or past the abundant olive trees and fruit trees all around. There are wild boar, deer, foxes, badgers and even porcupines in the surrounding countryside.

Casa & girasole	Patio & Garden
Livingroom	Double bedroom

To see more photos please visit http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/66361

The Marche / Abruzzo / Marche region

Le Marche is a beautiful, scenic region with wonderful views of mountains, hilltop towns and the Adriatic and retains an authentic Italian take on life with relaxation, good food and wine and excellent local shops and restaurants all thriving.

You will not find English pubs or signs for English breakfasts in this area though in towns like Amandola and Sarnano you will find some English spoken if you are struggling to order food for example.

Spring and Summer are warm or hot and you can even have warm, sunny days in December or January. Basically, if the sun gets out it'll be tee shirt weather (for the English that is) at any time of year. Note though that winter nights can be sharply cold and it often snows at higher altitudes during Winter.

The Adriatic offers beautiful beaches and towns with ice cream parlours. Good restaurants specialise in locally caught fish. The town of San Benedetto Del Tronto with it's palm tree boulevard and lovely piazzas is a favourite but anywhere along the coast is worth a visit in Summer.

Contrasting with the Adriatic, the mountains which divide Le Marche from Umbria and Lazio dominate the landscape as you travel westward away from the sea. They provide a spectacular backdrop to many a medieval hilltop town and make for wonderful days out walking in the valleys or peaks.

Smerillo area

There is a good restaurant (Le Logge) at Smerillo just 3 kms up the hill and a range of good shops and restaurants, cafes with fab ice cream and pastries (check out Cafe Belli in the piazza) at the nearby town of Amandola just 15 minutes drive away (10 kms). The Adriatic is an hour away by car and the Sibilliini National Park 30 minutes at the most. Here you can walk, climb and (between December and March) ski at a resort about an hours drive from the house. The Sibillini mountain range is spectacularly beautiful at every season of the year whether in Spring with the glorious wildflower meadows or Autumn with the red and gold of the lower mountain slopes. A range of walks and climbs with guided paths are available just a short drive from the house. We have a couple of guide books in the house with details of these.

There are horse riding schools just minutes away and you can hire bicycles in Amandola.

There are wonderful festivals in August, September and especially mid October when Smerillo is visited by thousands of Italians for the chestnut festival on the 3rd Sunday of October each year. This involves more eating and drinking of course and in fact the area is a gastronome's delight with great fresh produce in the local markets at Amandola and Sarnano, truffle festivals in autumn, a great range of local bakers and butchers in the surrounding towns and at least one good restaurant in just about every nearby village.

How to get there

The house is just below the beautiful and historic hilltop town of Smerillo towards the southern end of Le Marche. It is about 1 hour 40 minutes drive from Ancona airport which receives a flight daily from Stansted through Ryanair. You can also fly with Ryanair to Pescara , just over two hours away in neighbouring Abruzzo. There are flights to Rome with Easyjet. Rome is around 2 hours 40 minutes drive. Car hire is available through various providers at all the airports I've mentioned . Ryanair recommend Hertz though I've found Europcar competitive and always extremely helpful. From Ancona I recommend you head south on the A14 toll road. Once you leave the toll road it's about 40 minutes on good local roads to get to the house.

Activities near Smerillo

Facilities

Further details indoors:
The house is spacious and light and has two large double bedrooms with a very big double bed in each room and a good size third bedroom with a 3/4 size bed. There are also two foldaway single beds and a travel cot. There are two good sized bathrooms with a shower, toilet, washbasin and bidet in each. There is a modern , moderately sized kitchen with cooker, fridge freezer, double sink unit and Ikea kitchen units.
The living room is spacious and has a settee and two armchairs, a log burning stove, TV, DVD, Video,CD player and a bookcase with a good range of CD's and books to peruse.
The dining room has a dining room table, 6 chairs and a sideboard and leads onto a lovely patio area with views up the hill to Smerillo. There is a patio table and 4 chairs. The patio enjoys early morning sunshine and from around 10.30 a.m. in the Summer provides a lovely shaded place to sit.

Further details outdoors:
The house is set in a garden with olive trees, figs and walnuts, wisteria, jasmine, lavender and herbs in the borders. To the front of the house is an extensive lawn which has views across a valley and to the mountains. Go in August or September for beautiful figs,October for walnuts aplenty. In September or early October you may be asked to help with the grape picking harvest if our neighbour down the hill calls by and you are up for it. In my experience you'll spend more time feasting on a huge lunchtime meal and imbibing the Merlot of which Artelio is so proud than actually working, so be aware of what you're getting into before you agree!

Rental rates

Period	From	To	Weekly	Nightly rate		Minimum  stay
				Weekday	Weekend
Summer	26 Jul 08	6 Sep 08	500£ 500	0-	0-	1 Week
Autumn/Early Winter	6 Sep 08	20 Dec 08	400£ 400	0-	0-	1 Week
Christmas	20 Dec 08	3 Jan 09	450£ 450	0-	0-	1 Week
Ski season	3 Jan 09	28 Mar 09	350£ 350	0-	0-	1 Week
Spring	28 Mar 09	6 Jun 09	400£ 400	0-	0-	1 Week
Early Summer	6 Jun 09	25 Jul 09	450£ 450	0-	0-	1 Week
	25 Jul 09	5 Sep 09	500£ 500	0-	0-	1 Week

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

During the period between 6th September and 1st May a charge will be made according to how much gas has been used. This will be at the rate of 1 Euro 50 cents per litre (cost price).

Availability

See below for next 6 months' availability - to see the next 24 months click here

Contact owner

To contact this owner please visit: http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/66361

Contact details for home 66361 Please mention Holiday Lettings
Name:	Bill Carr
Tel:	+44 (0)191 2574733
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Contact Notes: Telephone to home number or e-mail after 6 p.m.
Advertiser joined: 20 Jul 2008 This property added: 20 Jul 2008

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