On the hills south of Lucca, in a panoramic position not far from a small town, period villa with park for sale. The building (470 sqm, 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms) has been finely restored and has beautiful paintings inside that have been recovered and preserved throughout. The outbuildings to be restored could be converted into guesthouses or service areas. In the park there is a 12 × 6 m swimming pool as well as several olive trees.
Basic services are all available in the nearby village (also within walking distance, less than a kilometer), and important centers such as Lucca and Capannori are about 20' drive away. A little further away (about 40 km) is the Versilia coast with its renowned beaches.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDINGS, STATE AND FINISHES
The main villa (470 sqm – 5,057 sqft, 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms) is a four-story historic building:
- Basement: large cellar, currently used as a storage;
- Ground floor: reception hall, living room, double dining room with porch, kitchen, private office, bedroom with bathroom, manorial chapel and laundry;
- First floor: living room, master bedroom with en-suite bathroom, four bedrooms and two bathrooms;
- Second floor: partially habitable attics.
The building dates back in its original layout to the 16th century, but the present plan is the result of expansions carried out at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The last such interventions date back to the early 20th century, at the height of the Art Nouveau era, but the villa was spared at this juncture, maintaining all in all its 18th-century appearance at the architectural level. Internally, on the other hand, the reception hall on the ground floor shows a mixture of Art Nouveau and Renaissance elements with paintings by Vincenzo Barsotti (1876 – 1963). On the first floor there is a large living room with trompe-l'œil frescoes depicting the countryside around the villa: of particular interest is the neo-Gothic colonnade depicted on the walls, which traces the one that once adorned the villa and of which only a few portions remain scattered here and there around the park. The rooms, on the other hand, feature painted curtains reminiscent of the Empire style, mixed with 16th-century patterns.
Everything that can be seen in the villa, however, is the result of meticulous recovery and restoration work: the walls had been whitewashed in the 1950s and 1960s, going on to cover and irreparably damage what was there. Removing the plaster brought back to light a real treasure: despite the heavy losses, the images were still recognizable in part and where missing they were supplemented with painstaking research work regarding colors and materials.
Behind the villa is a small warehouse with an oven (25 sqm – 269 sqft), entirely to be renovated but very suitable as a summer kitchen.
At the entrance of the property, just above the driveway that passes in the old driveway, there is the former coach house (245 sqm – 2,636 sqft) made of stone and brick, entirely to be renovated but very suitable for the creation of an annex. Next to this building is then a ruin (about 70 sqm – 753 sqft) entirely to be rebuilt.
EXTERIOR
The villa is surrounded by a well-manicured park (4,900 sqm) with panoramic views of the surrounding landscape and shade trees. Near the entrance, under the rustic building, is the 12 × 6 m swimming pool with sunbathing and relaxation area.
The rest of the property consists of agricultural land divided between arable land (2.2 ha), a large olive grove (1.8 ha) and Mediterranean forest (2.4 ha) on the north side of the property, so as to ensure privacy and confidentiality, as well as shelter from noise.
CLOSEST CITIES AND TOWNS
Closest services (800m; 2'), Capannori (11km; 20'), Lucca (12km; 20'), Pisa (26km; 35'), Viareggio (37km; 45'), Forte dei Marmi (48km; 45'), Volterra (59km; 1h 10'), San Gimignano (66km; 1h 25'), Florence (90km; 1h 15'), Greve in Chianti (102km; 1h 25'), Piombino (118km; 1h 35'), Monteriggioni (128km; 1h 40'), Siena (144km; 1h 55')
CLOSEST AIRPORTS
Pisa G. Galilei (32km; 35'), Firenze A. Vespucci (71km; 55'), Bologna G. Marconi (153km; 1h 50'), Grosseto Baccarini (166km; 2h), Genova C. Colombo (178km; 2h), Verona V. Catullo (280km; 3h), Milano Linate (287km; 3h), Roma Ciampino (363km; 3h 45'), Roma Fiumicino (376km; 3h 50')