Villa Campi di Sotto is a wonderful, quirky family country home, which feels much like the home of a favorite aunt and uncle who lived there for decades and loved to have family as guests. All nine of us (four granddaughters, their parents and grandparents) much enjoyed the space, the gardens and surrounding areas. Our hosts, Sara and Simone, went out to search for us after getting lost en route to the house. They had very thoughtfully left a wonderful fruit tart, olive oil produced by their own trees, bread and a bottle of wine made by Simone.
On the second or third day there, Simone took our granddaughters and son-in-law on a tour of his nearby farm, showing them olive trees, fruit and berry trees, and a lovely chicken coop that looks just like a dollhouse. Simone generously provided us with eggs from the many chickens, vegetables from his garden and, much to my delight, more of his wine.
The house has delightful nooks and crannies, spectacular views of the countryside and a wonderful garden with a variety of flowers that do their thing at different times, so there are always voluptuous quantities of blooming bushes and shrubs. The pool was a joy for the little ones, despite the cold temperature. The kitchen fireplace and its large dining table were perfect for gathering the family at mealtimes, as was the dining table on a terrace with a view of the pool and gardens.
If we had any complaints, they are limited to the peculiarly placed light switches which were always hard to find, and to the frugality of the light emitted by low-watt light bulbs, making reading at night almost impossible.
The property’s description in HomeAway is fair and accurate, though city folks should be aware of the fact that the house can be reached after a ten-minute ride on a dirt road off the main highway, and that Todi is a ten-minute drive from the access to the dirt road.
Our family all agreed that Villa Campi di Sotto was the highlight of a family vacation that included Paris and Rome, and our youngest granddaughter wants me to get Sara’s recipe for fruit tart. And I would love to have more of Simone’s wine.