VILLA TORRETTA – LA SPEZIA - IN LIGURIA

The Ligurian region is the oldest inhabited district in Italy. Its inhabitants had violent battles with the advancing Roman armies in the formation of Roman Italy. Castiglione Vara lies in the southern point of the county’s arch shaped region. The bay of La Spezia, 15km from Villa Torretta, is also known as the Gulf of the Poets, where Mary Shelley (1797 - 1851). Percy Shelley (1792 - 1822), Lord George Byron (1744 - 1824) moved to in 1821.

Many other famous personalities have lived in the area including Emma Orczy, author of “The Scarlet Pimpernel”. D. H. Lawrence (“Lady Chatterley’s Lover”), Richard Wagner (“The Flying Dutchman”), Eugenio Montale, Italian Nobel Prize Winner in 1975 for Literature, Guglielmo Marconi, Maritime Museum in La Spezia, Italian Nobel Price Winner in 1909 for Physics, Charles Dickens (“David Copperfield”), Robert and Elizabeth Browning (“Asolando”).

Villa Torretta is located in the village of Castiglione Vara which is 15 minutes drive from the two main motorway access points at Brugnato/Borghetto Vara to the north, and Santo Stefano di Magra to the south. La Spezia (100,000 inhabitants) with its beautiful palmed sea front and gulf is only twenty minutes drive from the villa. Pisa, famous for its leaning tour and the home of Galileo Galilei, and its international airport is 80 Km to the south. Genoa, the birthplace of Christopher Columbus is also renowned for its stunning aquarium and its seabound airport runway to the north which is around 90 km from the village of Castiglione. The marble mountains of Carrara and its 30 Km of sandy beaches are 30 minutes drive on the motorway, and the splendid coastline of the Cinque Terre with its five cliff hanging villages is also reachable by car in around 30 minutes.

Villa Torretta is an historical modernised building lying on the village hillside of Castiglione Vara where a local grocery shop and bar can be easily reached by foot from the villa. The River Vara flows through the village where the locals in the summer months enjoy swimming and fishing.

Access to the villa is one minute from the village of Castiglione Vara through an automatic arched gateway. The drive to the villa is 100 meters through the gate to a large car park which can accommodate more than ten cars.

The property lies in 20 acres of secluded grounds and the villa is reached through a drive lined with trees with an orchard on either side. The vast parking area flanked by flower columns gives access to three spacious garages, two of which are reserved for visiting guests. Behind the house the drive continues into the surrounding woods. The next house over the mountain is 14 Km away !

In expansive grounds to the rear of the villa there is a grass badminton court, a swimming pool, a granite floor patio area with table tennis, table football "calcio balilla", 5-a-side football, a complete outdoor kitchen comprising barbecue, pizza oven, rotisserie, fridge and wash-up area, in addition to large covered dining (up to 12 people) and sitting room facilities.

In the internal garden layout, looking onto the patio area, there are two shower rooms with all bathroom facilities including a fitted electrical hair dryer, and a separate laundry room with double sink, washing machine, and four ecological containers for plastic, paper, glass and general household waste.

The interior of the villa is of the highest standards and the superb high tech kitchen in stainless steel with every contemporary technological reference will delight any culinary enthusiast.

The entrance to the interior of the villa is through a furnished hall with book case. To the right lies the sitting room (sits 10) comprising a large TV, video recorder, DVD player, and an English language video/DVD library. To the left is the dining room (sits 12) and high tech kitchen (sits 6), which comprises a large 5 hob cooker, a large 90cm electric oven, a double stainless steel fridge freezer, microwave oven and an espresso coffee machine.

The first floor comprises four double bedrooms with spacious 3m high ceilings and two double windows. Two bedrooms are reached through separate dressing rooms/anti rooms with single beds and balconies. All bedrooms and bathrooms are fitted with roll down see through mosquito nets. In addition each bedroom offers spacious wardrobe facilities. On the first floor are also located two bathrooms with bath tubs and shower facilities. One bathroom is fitted with a Jacuzzi.

The village of Castiglione Vara, located at three minutes walk from the villa, takes its name from the river that runs through it which abounds with fish and is used by the locals for summer and winter sports.

The village of 200 inhabitants has two churches and a bar with a general food store. Supermarkets and petrol stations are 10 minutes drive from Castiglione Vara.

Airports are 1 hour’s drive from the village on the A.12 motorway, Genoa driving north and Pisa south. Florence is 1hr 30 mins drive from the motorway entrance.