Villa Castellaro is a perfect family holiday home with extensive grounds, located on its own hilltop, on a country road far from the nearest neighbours. Villa Castellaro boasts elegant, spacious interiors that have been lovingly furnished by its owner. Outside is a fabulous heated pool, immersed in mature, beautifully designed gardens.

The Main House

Ground floor: The house is entered through twin arched openings which lead into a small loggia that gives shelter to the high entrance doors. These doors open into a double-heighted entrance hall flanked by the original centuries-old stone walls. The main feature of the entrance hall is a magnificent marble staircase that leads to the upper floor bedrooms. Immediately to the right of the entrance is the main living room dominated by a huge fireplace. This room leads into the library, with a large, arched glass opening giving extensive views to the west. Down a few steps from the library is the dining room, with a table that seats ten beneath a brick vaulted ceiling.

The Kitchen: The kitchen is an enormous room, facing South and flooded with light. It is ideally placed for easy access both to the dining room and outside to the dining terrace. It is centered around a five-meter-long refectory table made of ancient wood that stretches the length of the room, a huge stone sink, an oversized restored fireplace, and lovely old tiles - and tucked away behind old doors are a large refrigerator and a dishwasher. There is an 8-burner Ilve double oven and a second sink under the window looking to the East. An adjacent room provides more space for food storage and preparation. Also on the ground floor are a powder room and a large laundry room with an oversized washing machine and dryer. 

Lower level of main house: There is a fully self-contained apartment with seperate entrances to the grounds. It has a comfortable living room, kitchen, bedroom and a bathroom.

Upper floor: The gallery to the right at the top of the marble stairs leads to a sitting room with a large arched window looking West over woodland and hills. To one side of the sitting area is a double bedroom with an 18th-century French painted bed and a private bathroom with shower over a sunken tub. To the other side, an arched opening in the exposed stone wall of the sitting room leads to a spacious bedroom with a four-poster bed and a sitting area with fireplace. This bedroom opens into a walk-through bathroom with twin basins and shower. To the left of the staircase is a room with linen storage that serves as an ante-room to two further bedrooms: one with twin beds that shares the walk-through bathroom, and the generously sized pink bedroom with an en suite bathroom fitted with a separate shower and claw-foot tub. The bedrooms on the upper floor all have built in air conditioning.

Its possible to also rent the two separate houses on the estate, perfect for a bigger group or an aupair/ nanny.

The Barn: Now transformed from its agricultural role, the former barn is ideal for a couple. The double-heighted space with ancient beams, stones and tiled floors has a huge open-plan living and cooking space with amazing views from three large doors. Opening to the rear of this room is a bedroom with large bathroom. The accommodation on the ground floor is fully accessible to guests with limited mobility or to wheelchair users and there is vehicle access right to the door. There is also a mezzanine level that overlooks the main space and opens to a terrace to the rear of the building. If required, this mezzanine level can provide sleeping accommodation for two children (not toddlers, for safety reasons).

The Studio House: the former tobacco-drying tower, situated near the entrance to Castellaro, has been restored to form a cottage for two, on two floors. The ground floor has a living room with fireplace, a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. The upper floor houses an artist's studio - spacious and light-filled with inspirational views.

The Pool: Castellaro's pool is 60 feet long and 9 1/2 feet deep at the deep end. Its wide, tiled steps at the shallow end make it suitable for parents with small children. The pool is set in a secluded corner of the grounds, not overlooked by any of the houses, and fully fenced. The banks behind the pool are studded with olive trees, broom, lavender, day lilies and wild roses. There are lovely views from the pool over the valley beyond. The pool is surrounded by a wide paved area and ample pool furniture is supplied. There is a choice of a shaded area at one end of the pool and a sunbathing terrace around the pool. Beneath the pool is a changing room with shower and toilet, and a fridge and sink. The pool is heated to a comfortable temperature all summer long. A retractable pool cover ensures that the water temperature does not drop significantly overnight.