Two Tuscan farm buildings have been restored into charmingly rustic cottages that would suit a large family or a group of friends buying together
A graceful country church, a forbidding tower, golden fields of huge sunflowers, and all around the verdant rise and fall of the Florentine hills—Ristonchi is so tiny you can’t even call it a hamlet, just a handful of ancient homes wrapped in the shady embrace of firs and chestnut trees high above the Arno river.
It feels lost in the middle of a lush Tuscan nowhere, and yet, Florence is so close that you can just about make out its lights shining in the twilight.
Here, tucked in the countryside between hamlet and city stand two lovely cottages for sale.
Perched high on a hillside above the Arno and Sieve valleys, the properties once were traditional farmbuildings and an accurate restoration, carried out in 2007, has preserved their vernacular feel.
La Bergerie is the smaller of the two cottages—a stone barn which has been turned into a one-bedroom home. Reached by a private stone staircase, it has a large living room with open plan kitchen downstairs, and a double bedroom and bathroom upstairs. Outside, a large stone paved terrace is perfect to relax alfresco.
Cassia, the second cottage, is larger. Downstairs, it has a big living room with open plan kitchen and a door leading to a private stone terrace shaded by oak trees. Upstairs is a huge family bedroom which could be split into two double bedrooms. Both Cassia and Le Bergerie are finished in rustic Tuscan style with terracotta floors, exposed brick pillars and thick chestnut beams.
Some five hectares of light oak woodland surround the cottages, which afford views over an old orchard.
What makes the cottages particularly interesting, though, is that they offer versatile accommodation—they could suit a large family, a group of friends pooling their resources together or even someone looking for a holiday home that could double up as a letting investment.
They are available for sale as a whole at €525,000 or separately at €245,000 and €285,000 respectively.
For further information, contact selling agents Aylesford International on +44 (0) 20 7349 5100 or visit www.aylesford.com.
