Tuscan Dream Villa II

My dream of renting a house for in Italy came true with this Tuscan villa

We arrived at the villa, just outside the tiny town of San Casciano dei Bagni, in Tuscany, on an idyllic October evening. The following thirty days were filled with adventures in a different culture, dear friends we made for life, and outings to other picturesque towns in the region. Before we left, we took photos of the house just to remember it by.

These are the photos which were lost for many years until I stumbled upon them recently in our storage room. Here is the second half of the house tour — which begins upstairs, in the living room [below]. It may be more fun to start with part one, which also has background about our friends who have Ristorante Daniela and the Sette Querce hotel in town – both very special places.

We loved our month at La Vetrichina, which had recently been renovated by a decorator from Rome in the typical Tuscan style. That included whitewashed wood-beam and tile ceilings, natural stone floors, two enormous fireplaces equipped with typical andirons each capable of holding a small cooking pot, and white slip-covered furniture mixed with antique chestnut pieces — elegant, but not fancy as country houses go even though it had been featured in the Italian edition of Architectural Digest. This is the huge fireplace in the living room with its deep terracotta hearth.

The living room is the central room upstairs, dominated by a fireplace built up off the floor and open on three sides – the better to heat the room. All the walls in the house were painted white, which created a peaceful backdrop for the white slip-covered furniture. A single gray and beige plaid fabric was used for accent pieces such as pillows, table skirts and the big upholstered ottoman. Terracotta garden seats were used in the living room as small, very convenient places to set down a drink, a bowl or a book. Notice that the bar is simply a built-in niche with two shelves (with a radiator tucked in below).

There’s a draped game table in back and windows on three sides.

I’m not a huge fan of taxidermy or animal parts but the stuffed birds and antlers used throughout the house didn’t bother me at all. Hunting is a common pastime in these hills during the fall and October and November are wild-mushroom season.

One side of the living room led to this small study. Again, bookshelves are simply built in as a niche with a shelf for display just below the ceiling (the curly thing on the left is the tail of a stuffed fox). I believe this room has been converted into a bedroom now.

One lovely surprise was the small terrace just off the study. We hardly used this room but it was a great place to hide out and, with it’s own outdoor space, was a real retreat.

The master bedroom had a wonderful wrought iron canopy bed which, much to my delight was left unadorned by fabric. Wrought iron fixtures are made in the town and the house also had wonderful wrought iron drapery rods in several bedrooms. This bedroom door leads out to a small hallway and then into the living room. We had to be careful about opening the bedroom windows (no screens; many mosquitoes) but having wood shutters and two layers of draperies made it dark enough to sleep late.

The villa has a detached guest house with two bedrooms. Just a short walk from the side door it is separate and completely private but compact and without any kitchen amenities. It took me a few days to realize it was there. But it went to waste as no one visited us.

The Empire sleigh bed was lengthwise along the wall of the beige guest room and a single peg mounted high on the wall provided an anchor for the white cotton swag, curtains and table skirt.

I really liked the sturdiness of the vintage armchair in this room – perfect when you need a place to lace up your boots. Wrought iron drapery rods with curved ends are made locally and very typical of the informal style of draperies used throughout the house. The curved sides close the light gap and help keep the room dark. Somehow, I liked this rod style because I used it in my own bedroom but completely forgot this house had them until I saw the photos again. No wonder they looked familiar.

The bed is a twin and was built in. This is a perfect room for a teen, no?

My husband caught me standing in the living room doorway that opens onto the terrace and overlooks the pool one afternoon. The new owners have redone this terrace in a far more elaborate way. Perhaps one day we’ll return to see the changes.

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