A villa that was built to be lived in.
The Balestra Connection
We didn’t buy a hotel. We bought a home, one that happened to belong to Renato Balestra, the fashion designer who dressed everyone from the Queen of Thailand to the Italian aristocracy. His sensibility is still in the bones of this place: the way rooms open into each other, the proportions that make you exhale when you walk in, the windows positioned to catch light at exactly the right moment.
When we restored the villa, we changed as little as possible. The fireplace that still anchors the living room on cold evenings, the original wooden furniture, the details that made this a home rather than a property, all of it stayed. We simply added what modern guests reasonably expect: proper air conditioning, a kitchen equipped for real cooking, and beds good enough to make getting up for breakfast a genuine decision.
What the Villa Actually Feels Like
Generous is the word that fits best. The rooms are large but not echoing. The light shifts through the house all day — soft in the morning, warm by lunch, golden by evening. It’s the kind of place where you find yourself reading a book in a different corner every afternoon, just because the light moved.
The dining room seats eight around one table. The windows behind it frame the Umbrian hills, and on clear days you can see all the way to the ridge above Orvieto. We’ve had guests sit at that table for three hours without noticing. That’s not the wine talking — it’s the view.
The kitchen is real. Not a galley kitchen with a coffee machine and an apologetic note about the nearest restaurant. We’re talking full-size oven, proper worktop space, and everything you need for a week of cooking. Most of our guests cook at least half their meals here, using tomatoes from the garden and oil from our olives.
Who Stays Here
Families who want space and privacy without being locked in a resort. Groups of friends are celebrating something. Couples who’ve done the boutique hotel thing and want something more personal. Occasionally, someone is writing a book. We’ve had them all, and the villa handles each of them naturally.
We accommodate up to ten guests across five bedrooms. That’s a deliberate limit — this isn’t a venue, it’s a home. And it works best when the people in it have room to breathe.