Although you really do need a car to stay here, it is a mere five minute-drive down the picturesque medieval lane to a piazza where several city buses stop regularly, and only five minutes beyond that is the southern entrance to Florence's city center, Porta Romana, where a large open-air market is flanked by several restaurants and shops. If you don't feel like going even that far afield, yet you're not up for cooking at home, the owners of a 4-star country inn across the street will make dinner for you if you reserve it in the morning. They also have an elegant swimming pool you are welcome to use, as well as an ancient pizza oven that they heat up once a week for an intimate soiree to which only residents of the neighborhood are invited. If you want a base where you'll have gated parking for your car, along with proximity to the city and the complete silence of the country, this just might be the perfect place for your Tuscan holiday.
This tiny estate is a prime example of how Tuscan somehow manage to create perfectly manicured grounds that seem never to have been touched by human hands. The lavender and rosemary bushes, olive grove, cypress trees, low dry stone walls, cobblestone driveway, perfectly restored ochre house, even the two old family dogs sleeping in the sun all present such a harmonious picture that it's impossible to imagine it hasn't been like this since time immemorial. You may have a quick twinge of panic as you drive up the one-lane access road lined with six-foot stone walls, but the knowledge that this lane really has looked like this for five hundred years is sure to be one of the most thrilling parts of your stay.
At the property, the electronic gate opens and your Swiss hostess Elisabeth awaits with a warm smile. She is the 'invisible hand' that oversees all this natural perfection and she takes great pride in making sure her guests enjoy every moment of their stay. The lodgings she offers are in two air-conditioned apartments that can be rented separately or together. They share the landing on the first floor of the house, 17 steps up from the garden level, right above Elisabeth's home.
