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The house occupies the most magnificent position in the small hilltop village of Sommocolonia, just three miles from Barga. All its rooms (except for the living room and one bedroom) look out on the private formal garden attached to the house and beyond t o the spectacular view.
The house, built of stone, is several hundred years old. (The precise date is uncertain, but a Lucchese historian estimated its original structure as sixteenth century.) It remains a purely Tuscan building with exterior walls thre e feet thick, chestnut beamed ceilings with tile and brick floors. The house used to be called "Casa Canonica" because, at some point in history, it was a rectory.
The entrance to the house is just past a charming medieval archway over the street Via Piazzola, which is narrow and passable only to foot traffic. The kitchen, to the left just inside the entrance hall, is a long, old fashioned room with an enormous, original fireplace. The room is characteristically furnished, (as is the rest of the house).
The main pieces are handsome hardwood, the countertops of local marble. The walnut table seats six. The stove and refrigerator are new. There is no dishwasher; however, the view from the traditional marble-composite sink is "to die for" which makes doin g dishes pleasant.
Off the dining end of the kitchen, a large open doorway leads into the "new" room (completed in 1999). It is a cozy living room furnished with new, comfortable chairs - a good place for family and friends to gather and a fine spot to curl up in on a rainy day. This room has the view only through the large doorway which is directly across from the kitchen terrace doors.
On the right side of the house's entrance hall is the new, beautifully tiled bathroom completed in 2000. It has a shower whereas the bathroom upstairs, also tiled, has a tub (which converts to a shower with a curtain). The washing machine is located in the downstairs bathroom space.
Stairs lead up from the entrance hall to the second floor which has three rooms plu s the bathroom. Two of the rooms are bedrooms. One has a delightful traditional iron bed (queen-size) which is high - the better to catch the view. The other bedroom, with twin beds and a window facing onto the quiet street, is small, but lovely. The thir d room is a charming library/sitting room. It has comfortable chairs, good reading light, and a great selection of books in English. It has a new queen-size sofabed.
On the third floor of the house is a large artist's studio with a skylight and a big wi ndows overlooking the same stupendous view as most of the other rooms. This room is really a working studio and it therefore has little in it apart from an easel, an armoire, a few tables, and miscellaneous straight back chairs. It does have a good single bed which, with pillows, doubles as a place to sit. It also has an efficient woodstove.
The garden can be reached by descending the wide stairs leading down from the kitchen terrace or through the high wrought iron gate from the stone street Via Piazzo la. The garden has an elegant feel to it with a formal plan centering around a small pond from which four pathways spoke out. The four plots of land formed by these little paths are surrounded by box hedge. Then adjacent to the low stone wall bordering the edge of the garden is a tile patio covered by a grape arbor. There is a large table on this patio where, weather permitting, it is very pleasant to have meals.i |
