Nice stone farmhouse completely restored preserving its original architectural features, situated in the medieval small village of Stigliano, on the hills around Siena. The villa, offering comfortably furnished interiors, is quietly located and affords beautiful views over a valley and over the surrounding landscape. Pets are allowed.
Distances: the small village Rosia with all kinds of shops 2 km, Siena 15 km, the medieval town of San Gimignano with its famous towers approx. 35 km, Grosseto approx. 50 km. The Maremma coastline is reachable in a one-hour drive.
At guests' disposal: large terraced garden with orchards, furnished with table and chairs, private, above-ground swimming-pool (6 x 11 m - open from 31/05 to 27/09) set in panoramic location and barbecue. The access to the property is via 1 km of a narrow, steep unpaved road which is not suitable for sports-cars. Parking within the grounds. Children under 2 years of age are considered as adults: the owner of the villa accepts only a maximum of 9 persons.
Extra services: on request it is possible to hire a baby bed for € 50,-/ per week(payment on the spot). Maid service available by arrangement (payable locally). Firewood to be paid on the spot according to consumption. Pets are allowed with an extra fee of € 50,- to be paid on the spot.
General Property Comments
The villa was very large with spacious rooms and high celings. This made it cool during both the day and night. Whilst the beds were very comfortable the other furnishings were a little "tired" and in need of replacement or repair. The fridge struggled to keep things cool, the toaster was a 1950's model and as mentioned on a previous review, hot water was at a premium. The overall effect was on of slightly "faded grandeur". On top of a hill overlooking Siena with mature trees offering shade during both morning and afternoon. The patio is shaded most of the day and so perfect for "al fresco" eating. Only 15km form Siena and 3km from the local town of Rosia. The local restuarant in Stigiliano is about 15mins walk. Be advised that the road to it is narrow, steep and has a couple of very sharp turns.
Casa Del Poggio was in a great location with unbelievable views of the countryside. We travelled to Rome, Florence, Venice(a little long for a day), and of course Siena and the beach as day trips. Stigliano, was walking distance and had a wonderful local restaurant . It is the right place for an authentic Tuscan experience, but the hill leading to the property, as with all of the hilltop towns, is not for the faint of heart.
We left our hearts here.
The house itself is beautiful and in a beautiful setting. Bedrooms were all fine. We loved reading or dining in the backyard. The kitchen was wonderful for cooking, although we could have used a bigger cutting board and more glasses and silverware.
We did not use the pool--it was not hot enough to swim.
The major problem at the villa was the lack of hot water. For what we were paying, and for the size of the water heater, we should have had plenty of it. But as eight people, we had to wait hours between each of us taking ten-minute showers, and this interfered with our touring and our schedule generally.
Also, there should be signs in the house at every sink to make sure that all guests know there is only ONE faucet, one of the two in the kitchen, that has drinkable water. One of our kids drank from the rainwater faucet the first night and was VIOLENTLY ILL all night. The house has long instructions in the bathrooms about not using towels for makeup, etc. Signs indicating the drinkability of the water should be up as well so that no guest gets sick. Signora told one of the parents in the first family to arrive, but the child drank the cistern water before we could tell him.
Also, directions to the villa should identify the highways that lead to the house with numbers. We spent an hour trying to figure out if we were on the right roads. We found the house only by sheer luck.
The house was beautiful, and Signora was lovely. The above problems aside, we enjoyed it very much.
