Inside, we had a lot more freedom to do what we liked.’Īfter she and her husband bought the house in 2011, there were four more years of planning and construction. We wanted the podere to appear the same but in a restored condition, so the exterior walls were retained and, from the outside, the farmhouse looks almost exactly as it did originally. ‘But it’s also an area of seismic activity, so the building codes are strict. ‘It is a Unesco-protected area, so you have to build in the traditional way,’ says the owner. The owner assembled a team to work on the project, including the Italian architect Matteo Pamio of Roberto Pamio + Partners, and the French interior designer Elodie Sire of D.Mesure, who has also designed two homes in France for the family. It had begun to crumble and required extensive restoration. The 18th-century farmhouse, known as a podere, consisted of a number of smaller stone buildings and stables arranged in a U-shape around a central courtyard. You really appreciate all the seasons here and the different ways the farmers work the land in each one.’ This did give us plenty of time to think about our plans for the house, though, and to observe how the landscape changes throughout the year. ‘We settled on this farmhouse, but it then took another four years to buy it because the process was so complicated. ‘Around 12 years ago, we started to look for a farmhouse or a ruin to update and convert and finally we found two properties that we liked in the Val d’Orcia,’ she says. MAY WE SUGGEST: A mother & daughter's restoration of a 16th-century Tuscan convent But the task of finding somewhere that would suit them and their son was not easy. They started spending holidays in the Val d’Orcia, then rented a house in the area, eventually deciding that they would love to buy a place of their own as an escape from their main residence in France. The owner is an amateur equestrian who was unfamiliar with this part of Tuscany until she was introduced to it by her husband. I love the way the clouds float past it and how the grass grows in the meadow, so that in spring you see the breeze blowing through it, making green waves across the landscape. ‘I call it “my hill” and there is something so beautiful about it. ‘My favourite view is of the hillside opposite the house,’ she says. No wonder the owner and her family fell in love with such a mesmerising setting. This part of the Val d’Orcia is not only delightfully picturesque but also wonderfully tranquil.
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