Modern House Tucked into Medieval Walled Village. Welcome Dinner Included.

Bask in an unforgettable Italian experience. Rocca di Benano offers the perfect mix of old and new.

The five bedrooms, four modern bathrooms, and two common areas are spread out over four floors in a house nestled into a medieval walled village. The villa is your meticulously restored home away from home featuring original stone walls, exposed wooden beams, terracotta floors, and a stunning ancient wine cellar carved out of bedrock. We have outfitted the house with every modern convenience, so you can stream whatever you want to watch while sitting steps away from a cantina probably dug by Etruscan hands some 25 centuries ago!

At Rocca di Benano, up to 10 friends or family members can relax in the comfort of high-end furnishings and bedding, screened windows, and air conditioning. Guests also enjoy free internet, a clothes washer and dryer, landline calls to North America, and a sparkling, brand new kitchen (it's still so new we don't even have the photos up yet!) already stocked with the basics.  

A Rocca di Benano rental comes with exceptional hospitality. Whether you like to plan every minute of your stay or play it by ear, our knowledge of the area will help you design an unforgettable and uncomplicated stay. Long before your arrival, we are available to answer all your questions and offer personal help in creating a unique and memorable vacation. We want to make you feel right at home in Benano and give you everything you need, including the confidence to explore the area and all that it has to offer.

If you would like, we can help you develop an itinerary personalized to your interests. We can steer you to off-the-beaten path towns and restaurants that you will never forget. We can introduce you to our friends in the community who can, depending on your interests, teach you to cook like a local, cook for you in the villa, show you around their organic farm, and serve you a meal there. We can introduce you to the best tour guide imaginable -- a teacher who, when she isn't working, can tour with our guests around the area she loves and has studied extensively. I can also help you arrange winery tours, a visit to an artist's studio (it's in a castle, by the way) in the next village over, or help you arrange for a photographer to capture your vacation memories. On a more practical level, we can help you think through how and where you want to rent your car, suggest driving itineraries, and even put you in touch with a driver/personal assistant. 
Whether your excursions take you to one of the many easily accessible nearby towns or a stroll to the neighboring olive groves, you'll always feel welcomed home at Rocca di Benano on your return.

**About The Villa**

Rocca di Benano is the principal dwelling in the walled medieval hamlet of Benano, which sits on the edge of a valley, high above the ancient hill town of Orvieto.

Main floor: You will enter the villa on the main floor, which includes a comfortable living room, with the original large stone fireplace outfitted with an iron wood-burning stove for easy, smoke-free fires. The dining room can comfortably seat 10, and a professionally-appointed kitchen is already stocked with the basics. The kitchen has new appliances (four-burner gas stove, oven, dishwasher, refrigerator, freezer), an American coffee maker, All-Clad cookware, and regularly sharpened knives. There also is a bedroom on the first floor (queen bed) and a full bathroom with a shower just off the living room.

Ground Floor: The stairs from the kitchen lead to the downstairs sitting (or TV-watching or reading) room. The ground floor also features a medieval cistern, well-lit and under glass, that allows guests to peer into history. If peering isn't enough, guests can actually descend forty feet to the villa’s historic cantina, which probably pre-dates the construction of the village itself. Re-entering the world of modern conveniences, guests will find a separate laundry room with a washer and a dryer. There's also a bedroom and a large, modern bathroom on the ground floor. Note: this bedroom/bathroom combination is the only one in the house without any steps in between the bedroom and the bathroom.

Second Floor: The staircase off the main floor living room leads to the second floor, which features a large bedroom and a full bathroom with a shower across from the bedroom.

At the end of the hallway where the stairs ascend to the third floor, there is a second bathroom that mirrors the one across from the second floor bedroom. The stairs to the third floor can be closed off for privacy and are slightly steeper than the first flight of stairs.

Third Floor: The third floor has two gorgeous bedrooms - one with a king-size bed and the other with a queen-size.

Terrace: The villa’s back door (off the ground floor sitting room) opens onto a private stone terrace overlooking the property’s olive trees, a prolific fig tree (always a guest favorite in late summer), neighboring farms, and a nearby village. A beautiful hand-painted ceramic table and wrought-iron chairs provide outdoor dining space for 8-10 people. There is a brick oven and Italian barbecue on the terrace, with firewood stored on a second terrace immediately below. Guests may use the pool at a hotel 2 miles away, free of charge.

** About the Village**

Once a defensive outpost, Benano dates back at least 1,000 years, and the villa retains a few fascinating features from those early times.

The villa sits on a tiny piazza facing a small, 16th century church. The villa's external wall forms part of the old “rocca,” or fortress. Benano is home to about 25 year-round residents. Guests can take in the inevitable gathering of locals chatting in the piazza or bocce court on summer evenings. Cars and motorcycles are not permitted in the center of the village, so guests are spared the street noise common throughout Italy. Guests can park for free just outside the village gate, 100 feet from the villa's front door.