Located in the heart of the Tuscan countryside, iCapannini is a sustainable development set in a traditional stone farmhouse
The countryside around the village of Mazzolla, near Volterra, in Tuscany, is a sea of verdant curves. Wooded hills rise and lush valleys sink in a sinuous serpentine only broken by honey-hued farmhouses and the soaring spires of dark green cypress, straight like soldiers standing at attention. Quiet roads wind their way across emerald fields and golden wheat. And the soft, flexuous shape of an impossibly white cloud floats in a cerulean sky.
At the heart of this bucolic idyll stands iCapannini, a development with a conscience. iCapannini is a large stone farmhouse that once belonged to the Viti family, the scions of an alabaster trading dynasty, who own much of the land around Mazzolla and farm it organically. Inspired by the Viti approach, iCapannini’s developers decided to create a luxury home that would nonetheless have a very low impact on the environment.
“The iCapannini concept is to provide luxury living in a spectacular location, but at low cost to the owner and the environment,” explain the developers. “iCapannini will have fully integrated leading edge eco technology installed to heat and cool the building, heat the swimming pool, heat the domestic water and provide the electricity required for everyday living and even recycle rainwater for irrigation.”
Among other features, a geothermal heat pump will provide underfloor heating for the house and will warm the swimming pool. Photovoltaics will generate electricity, feeding any surplus energy back into the grid. And a solar water system will heat water for the house and the pool shower rooms.
But eco-friendliness is only part of iCapannini’s appeal. The house itself is a dream of golden stone and exposed beams, and the views, which span 360 degrees over the mellow countryside, are to die for. The development plans also include landscaped gardens, a large outdoor dining area and an infinity pool, the better to soak up the views.
Planning permission, building contract and project manager are already in place for iCapannini, but buyers have an opportunity to tailor the place to their needs. For example, the house, which comes with separate staff accommodation and one hectare of land, can be split into flats, if required. The asking price is €1.8m. For more information, contact iCapannini on +44 (0) 20 7993 2967 or visit www.icapannini.com.
