La Tenuta - Viterbo - Latium

11  Bedrooms  - Swimming  Pool

La Tenuta is an oasis of pleasure. You may decide to relax, sunbathing on a lounger next to the pool, have a swim, have a walk around the estate, go and look around the residence, do nothing at all. Or you can relax by doing some yoga, dive into the Jacuzzi, have an ayurvedic massage or personal wellbeing treatment. You can also spend your time tasting wine, aided by a knowledgeable sommelier, or tasting oil, taking the advice of experts. Or you can attend cookery classes, drawing inspiration from the fruits of this land and from that of Sicily, creating unique dishes, or a decoration course. You can also take part in one of the tours organised to visit places in Tuscia or Tuscany, go to one of the concerts of the Baroque Festival, take in a show at the Teatro di Ferento. 

You arrive at La Tenuta and enter another world, one governed by cordiality, history, attention to detail and a magical atmosphere.
You go through a gate just wide enough to allow a car to pass through. Almost like a custodian keeping watch over his treasure. You pass the cypresses, oaks and olive trees, gradually melting into this timeless picture. You travel along the avenue to the villa and are met by the owners themselves. They are elegant, polite and above all friendly. It is like seeing old friends again. They take you to the old family home, next to the small church, telling you about their own history and the attachment they feel to this old residence and to the locality: Merlano, the old “palace of the blackbirds”.

Interiors. You enter the Room of Casts and realise you are entering history. Numismatologists would be in ecstasy here. The house was completed in 1797 ― as the Latin inscription on the main wall says, “but had been lived in for a long time before that, and had already hosted illustrious names and influential ecclesiastics in spiritual retreat, such as the cardinal Duke of York”.
You recognise the Etruscan art on some of the vases on display, then photographs of King Gustav of Sweden with members of his family, old books, paintings, statues, lamps. The rarefied atmosphere and richness of the small family treasures on view leave you breathless.

Accommodation: Lower ground floor, large dining room, large and well equipped kitchen with fireplace; note that the kitchen is for the sole use of the cook and staff working at the villa. Conventional and wood oven, well equipped cellar, WC. Main house: at the ground floor there are two grand hallways, TV room with fireplace leading out to a paved pergola, Billiard-room and two large sitting rooms, one with fireplace. Study leading out onto a terrace with garden furniture and dining table. Double bedroom with ensuite bathroom with shower. At the first floor you find a double bedroom suite with a sitting room and a large bathroom with a Jacuzzi and separate shower. Another double bedroom sharing a bathroom with shower with a bedroom with a 'French' bed (suitable for one adult or two children). Double bedroom and a twin bedroom sharing a bathroom with bath and shower.  

Il Casolare/ The Farmhouse. The scents of sage, rosemary, basil and lavender reach my nose at the entrance to the Farmhouse, the historical residence of those who used to work at Villa La Tenuta.

This small hotel de charm has been completely restored, but it is great to see that its rural origins have been respected in communal areas and that the furnishings refer to the original use of the house.
Materials used are naturaland prized: terracotta floors, the handles and lampshades made from wrought iron, table tops from marble.
In the winter one can entertain friends in the large lounge heated by the fireplace, in the summer the favourite meeting place is the garden.
The farmhouse, a faithful companion to the villa, has its own green area, with pine trees, lime trees, a small lemon grove and a large lawn.

In the charming kitchen the rustic originsof the hotel are combined with all “mod cons”. There is certainly no shortage of technology: the refrigerator is ready to give me a drink without me having to open the door. Another surprise is the kitchen sink equipped with a garbage disposal unit. “This reduces the volume of organic waste”. The farmhouse architecture is very old, with small height differences from room to room making the layout very interesting. The rooms are decorated with flowers from the garden and follow sober, elegant lines. The made-to-measure linenbedspreadsand embroidered towelsadd a certain je ne sais quoi to the furnishings. In the farmhouse there are two double bedrooms with mezzanine with a single bed both with en-suite bathrooms with showers. Two double bedroom suites with en-suite bathroom with shower. Twin bedroom with en-suite bathroom with bath. 

The Garden. Seven hectares/twenty acres of olive groves surround the property's extensive lawns.  The gravel makes a crunching sound under your feet and marks the way from the gate to the main family residence,

La Tenuta. You follow the path that flanks the house, and with every step comes a different perfume. Lavender, lime, rosemary, wisteria, jasmine. I fill my lungs and my eyes with ancient roses, bamboo, hydrangeas, lemon trees, oak trees. The gardeners are hard at work, and leave nothing to chance. They tidy the hedges, prune, trim, look after every single flower, unaware that bees are waiting for the right moment to steal their nectar. You stop to look at the small wooden benches, ready to host future conversations, when two playful dogs approach, then accompany you along the path leading to the swimming pool.

The private swimming pool, 7 x 14m/23 x 46 feet, is set about 20m/65 feet from the house. The pool has a constant depth of 1,5m-2,3m/5-7,5 feet and steps for entry/exit. Outdoor shower. Red sunshades shelter loungers and there, next to the blue pool, one gains a fine view of the valley below. All around is a sea of olive trees. Here, time stands still. 

Airports: Rome, 1 hour 15 minutes; Florence, 2 hours 30 minutes; railway station at Viterbo 1km; motorway exit on the far side of Viterbo, roughly 10km/6 miles along paved roads to the property’s narrow entrance.