Luxury Villa 6 Bedrooms Tuscany ( 2072 )

Set on the hillside of Settignano, with extraordinary views of Florence and the surrounding Arno valley, the Villa Gamberaia is renowned for its splendid gardens, celebrated throughout the world by leading landscape architects and garden historians.

Completed in the early seventeenth century by the Florentine noble Zanobi Lapi in the Tuscan style, the villa combines interesting architectural features of both an urban palazzo and suburban villa. In the eighteenth century the property belonged to the Marchesi Capponi, and by that time the house and gardens had acquired the characteristic elements seen in the famous engraving by Giuseppe Zocchi (1744): the cypress allée, bowling green, nymphaeum, grotto garden, boschi, parterre and lemon terrace. At the end of the nineteenth century, Princess Giovanna Ghika began the transformation of the parterre de broderie into the beautiful parterre d'eau, enclosed at its southern end by a majestic cypress arcade. Elegant expressions of topiary art were created by the American-born Mathilda Ledyard Cass, Baroness von Ketteler, in the following decades. After the Second World War, the Villa became the property of Marcello Marchi and then of his heirs Luigi Zalum and family, who have continued the work of restoration and conservation.

The Gardens:
The plan of the Gamberaia… combines in an astonishingly small space, yet without the least sense of overcrowding, almost every typical excellence of the old Italian garden: free circulation of sunlight and air about the house; abundance of water; easy access to dense shade; sheltered walks with different points of view; variety of effect produced by the skilful use of different levels; and, finally, breadth and simplicity of composition...
Edith Wharton, Ville italiane e loro giardini, New York, 1904 (Firenze: Passagli, 1983), pp. 33 e 36.

From the moment you pass the gate, with its sentinel cypresses, the impression is one of such perfect loveliness that at last, by force of contrast, the mind goes back to strong Caprarola or tragic Este, only to turn once more to bathe in the pefection of the Tuscan villa.
C. Latham, The Gardens of Italy (Londra: Hudson and Keane, 1905), p. 113.

Its beauty … is … great enough to absorb one almost completely, the terraces, the ponds, the great apse of cut cypresses, the bowling green as you look at it from the grotto toward the south like a great boat sailing through space, the view over the quiet landscape of the Chianti hills and further over domes and towers to the snow-capped Apennines and the Arno glimmering in the plain . . . [For] years Gamberaia remained one of … the haunts of my life ….
Bernard Berenson, Tramonto e crepuscolo - ultimi diari 1947-1958, (Milano: Feltrinelli, 1966)

Accommodation:
 
LA CAPPELLA APARTMENT
Located on the bowling green, with windows looking out on the gardens and views of Settignano and Florence
First floor:
Accommodates 6 persons (circa 180 sq. meters).
Heating/air-conditioning.
Ground floor:
large living room with dining room en suite,
beamed ceilings and terracotta floors
one double bedroom and bath (shower)
fully-equipped kitchen.
Second floor (Mezzanine)
two double bedrooms with bath (shower)
walk-in closet and storage room.

LA LIMONAIA APARTMENT
Two entrances: from the gardens and directly from Via del Rossellino.
Accommodates 8 persons (ca.180 sq. meters)
Heating/air-conditioning
Ground floor:
spacious living room with fireplace
characteristic architectural features
kitchen/dining room with large fireplace and wall oven
fully equipped with modern appliances
guest bath and laundry room
beamed ceilings and terracotta floors
First floor:
four double bedrooms
three baths with shower or tub (one en suite)
windows overlooking the lemon garden
with views of the surrounding hills and valleys.

IL NETTUNO APARTMENT
Located on the bowling green, with views of the gardens, Settignano and the city of Florence Two entrances, from the green and from the cypress allée, with adjoining private garden.
Accommodates 6 persons (ca.150 sq. meters)
Heating/air-conditioning
Spacious living room with large antique fireplace and terracotta floors
3 double bedroom  with 3 bathroom with shower
fully-equipped eat-in kitchen

LA SERRETTA APARTMENT
This is a two-roomed apartment, located close to LA LIMONAIA apartment.
Accomodates 2 persons (approx. 30 sq. meters)
1 double bedroom
1 bathroom with shower
1 living room with kitchen corner

THE VILLA
Ground floor:
entrance with vaulted ceilings
hall
2 double bedrooms
1 biliard room.

First floor: 5 double bedrooms, 3 bathrooms with tub and shower, large living-room leading to furnished terrace overlooking the garden, dining-room, large kitchen, laundry, elevator.  Private swimming-pool.  3 personnel for the service. The large salon on the ground floor, opening onto the grass terrace with superb panorama of Florence and the Arno valley. The ground floor of the Villa, comprising two elegantly-appointed salons, interior colonnaded courtyard, and various administrative or meeting spaces, is available for receptions, conferences, exhibitions, and other functions.

Distances:
Airport Firenze/Peretola: ca.10 kilometers
Golf Club dell'Ugolino: ca.15 kilometers
Siena: ca.60 kilometers;
Pisa: ca.80 kilometers