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Villa Lucia
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Accommodates 17 + 9 + 6
Main House — 9 bedrooms, 8 baths
Top-Floor Flats — 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 3 bedrooms, 1 bath
Swimming Pool, Tennis Court
The Villa Lucia is a classic wine- and olive-producing estate which Vacanza Bella has offered for over 20 years. It was one of the pioneering country rental properties in Tuscany.
The location is ideal: at the northeastern edge of the Chianti countryside, about 30-40 minutes each from Florence, Siena, and Arezzo. The countryside here is truly beautiful; views overlooking vineyards and olive groves are delightful, even breathtaking. The closest villages are Mercatale Valdarno and Bucine, both with all services. Plus, you’re under 10 minutes from the entrance to the main Florence-Rome highway. Bucine has a train station, so that you do not need to take the car into either Arezzo or Florence for the day.
The Villa Lucia is a wonderful place for a big family reunion as well as for a group of unrelated couples traveling together. We’re talking here about a padronal villa, not a refurbished farmhouse, constructed for its noble owner between 1700 and 1750. Interior spaces are grand, ceilings lofty, grounds magnificent. The owners have recently upgraded existing bathrooms and created new ones, such that in the main part of the villa, all bedrooms now have their own baths either en-suite or immediately adjacent.
Ground floor: Entry hall. Double living room with fireplace. Smaller living with upright piano and satellite TV. Office/computer room with wireless internet zone. Dining rooms with fireplace. Large billiard room. Large kitchen with fireplace. Matrimonial/twin bedroom with en-suite bath. Guest half-bath.
Upstairs: Vast hall with Murano crystal chandelier, giving out onto the following bedrooms:
- Indivisible matrimonial with bath (shower over tub)
- Indivisible matrimonial, with separate single bedroom adjacent as a sort of "suite", sharing a bath (shower over tub)
- Indivisible matrimonial with balcony and bath (shower over small tub)
- Matrimonial/twin with bath (shower over tub)
- Matrimonial/twin with bath (shower only)
- Matrimonial/twin with bath (shower only)
- Matrimonial/twin with bath (shower over tub)
Top floor (optional and never rented to a separate group, but ONLY as overflow bedroom space): Flat 1: Large entrance. Two matrimonial bedrooms. One twin bedroom. One bedroom with 3 single beds. Bedrooms share two baths among them. Flat 2: Independent entrance. One twin bedroom. Two bedrooms with 3 twin beds each. Bedrooms share two baths, one with shower only, one with shower over small tub. Furnishings on this floor are very simple. They are meant for teens, children, domestic help, or good sports.
Is Villa Lucia “perfect”? No. For example, it has no air-conditioniong. The thickness of the walls and height of the ceilings renders it comfortable even in summertime. But still: If you’re accustomed to running your air-conditioning at 65 degrees Fahrenheit and sleeping in August under blankets, this is not the place for you. Beds are good but not always posturepedic. Baths are perfectly functional and pleasant, but they are not modern-design. Same with the kitchen. We’re not trying to evade any “issues” here. It’s just that one must understand that a magnificent early 18th-century Tuscan padronal villa is not and cannot look like, or behave like, an American suburban house.
The villa is fully equipped with private swimming pool; private tennis court; billiard table; all kitchen appliances including washing machine and dishwasher. Houecleaning 5 days per week, 4 hours per day, is included in the rental price. This does not include making the beds (if it did, no housecleaning would get done), and it does not include personal laundry and ironing, nor food shopping and cooking. All such services are available at Villa Lucia, and they can normally be arranged after one arrives. Let us be totally candid on the matter of household help: The owner and staff of Villa Lucia are wonderful folks, open, friendly, accommodating. In the past, guests have on occasion been demanding and difficult, indeed impossible (NOT our clients, but those of other agencies). Thus, before committing themselves to elaborate cooking and housekeeping arrangements, the owner and her staff want to make certain that it is going to be a situation in which people get along. Once that judgment is made, we can assure you that you will have the time of your lives. If you want the impossible – sheets and towels laundered and ironed daily; vegetarian or vegan diets – it might be better anyway to consider another location (or agency).
Villa Lucia, doing what it does for nearly 25 years now, has acquired a following. It rents VERY far in advance, often more than a year ahead of time, or even two. In certain cases, it is NEVER possible to rent certain periods, as they are rented annually to the same guests. It’s a wonderful property, and if you’re flexible with your attitudes, and your dates, it earns our highest recommendation.
Rates: |
Contact VB for rates |
| Extras: |
None |
| Arrival: |
Saturday |
Minimum
stay: |
1 week |
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