Somewhere in the rolling countryside southwest of Siena, down a long gravel drive lined with cypresses, sits an 800-year-old villa that once nursed medieval pilgrims back to health. Today it performs a similar service, albeit with Michelin-starred dinners and a spa that produces its own skincare line. Danish owners, Claus and Jeanette Thottrup, have spent two decades transforming the estate into a 300-acre working farm with vineyards, an artisan dairy, kitchen gardens and even alpacas. The result is a place is lived-in rather than designed, where the flowers on your bedside table were picked that morning and the cheese at breakfast was made down the hill. And it's all effortlessly lovely.
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The 13th-century villa is the heart of everything, its stone-floored halls filled with worn leather armchairs and fresh flowers. A weathered brick cellar houses over 1,200 wines, and candlelit dinners at Saporium (boasting a Green Michelin Star) showcase inventive cuisine pulled almost entirely from the grounds of the estate. For something more relaxed, Trattoria Sull'Albero is built around an old oak tree and feels exactly like eating in an elegant treehouse. For a spot of R&R, the infinity pool gazes out across the Val di Merse, and the Seed to Skin spa uses botanicals grown on site.
All 22 rooms have been individually put together with hand-painted frescoes, antiques sourced from across Italy and bespoke beds. In fact, no two are alike. The villa rooms in the main building have exposed beams, working fireplaces and views over the formal gardens whilst the garden suites have additional Mediterranean courtyards adorned with citrus trees and sun loungers. The most secluded options are hidden in the walled gardens with outdoor fireplaces and their own saltwater plunge pools. Bathrooms are generous throughout, with large stone bath tubs and the estate's own Seed to Skin products.
The estate itself could keep you busy for days. Join the morning vegetable pick, watch the cheesemaker at work, or take a guided walk through the wilderness to the freshwater River Merse for a wild swim. Hiring a Vespa or a vintage Fiat 500 makes for gorgeous day trips to Siena, San Gimignano or the roofless ruins of San Galgano Abbey, home to the original 'sword in the stone'. Wine lovers can arrange private tastings in Chianti or Montalcino, and hot air balloon flights over the Tuscan hills are especially glorious.
The farm-to-fork commitment is the real deal. The estate has its own cheesemaker, baker, forager and fermentation specialist, and you can taste the difference at every meal.
Book a cooking class early as they fill up fast. The pasta-making sessions using flour milled on site are brilliant fun, and you get to eat everything you make for lunch.
The villa rooms vary considerably in size and light, so a garden suite is well worth the upgrade. The estate is also seasonal, closing over winter.
Cypress-lined ridges, Renaissance hill towns and Tuscany at its most iconic.
