House-sitting in Tuscany: Livin’ the ‘Villa Loca’!

Updated October 2022

Want to know how I landed here in Tuscany in an incredibly amazing 15th- century villa as a caretaker for two months, with free accommodations and my very own room, all for spending just a couple of hours each day doing some flower watering and picking up any bits of trash that may have blown in?  Before I show you the amazing pictures from the villa, let’s talk about Tuscany for a minute.

Tuscany is a huge region in Italy (8800 sq miles/22,900 sq km), or roughly the same size as Israel or New Jersey (thanks Wikipedia!)  The capital of the Tuscan region is the spectacular and truly awe-inspiring and jaw-dropping Florence (Firenze), about 40 miles east of the villa.  Many historians consider Florence the birthplace of The Renaissance movement, with DaVinci, Michaelangelo, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Titian, Tintorelli and other world-renowned thinkers and artists having their roots here.

In Tuscany, there are vineyards upon vineyards, and olive groves upon olive groves, producing some of the most amazing vino and olio d’ oliva in the world. The rolling hills are dotted with bales of hay, castles, villas, sunflowers, and the iconic cypress trees that Tuscany is known for.

Now a bit about the estate. Villa di Corliano is a gem, owned by the same family since the mid-1500s and situated halfway between Pisa and Lucca- two delightful, important and historic cities in the Tuscan region of Italy.  Agostino Agostini, (the count) and his wife Roseanna (a Countess now by marriage, but a Baroness in her own right!) own the property and take such pride in making sure everything is well run and beautifully kept.  They live in nearby Pisa, but stop by almost every day to check on things (maybe to check on me and my not-so-amazing watering and gardening skills!)  Many famous people have stayed at the Villa throughout history, including the poets Byron and Shelley,  assorted kings, dukes and titled nobility from around Europe, Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, and possibly the toddler Galileo Galilei, who Agostino believes was here with his parents many, many years ago in the 1500s.

The estate consists of the main house with an imposing entry hall, grand ballroom,  formal office/study, the owner’s deluxe apartment for when they stay overnight or when the bride and groom stay after their fairy tale wedding at the villa; a large well-equipped cucina (kitchen) downstairs, charming breakfast room, assorted other rooms, and 10 beautiful bedrooms available to rent from the lovely Leonardo and vivacious Veronica who contract with Agostino to run a bed and breakfast within the estate.

Alessia, an adorable 25-year-old recent college grad, helps Leo and Veronica as well as assisting Oriana the housekeeper (who has full on conversations with me, even though I don’t speak Italian and she doesn’t speak English!) with the cleaning of the rooms and preparation of delicious and plentiful prima colazione (breakfast) for the visiting guests, served in the delightful breakfast room or outside at bistro tables among the flowers.

There’s an authentic rustic Tuscan restaurant in the next building, Osteria all’Ussero Da Antonio which is run by Antonio and Rita, serving traditional Italian fare such as risotto dishes, hearty pastas, cinghiale (boar) and fresh seafood along with traditional cocktails such as an Aperol Spritz (made with prosecco and Aperol, an orange liqueur similar to Campari), or the Puccini (a mimosa, more or less) plus incredibly smooth local wines and ridiculously delicious desserts such as tiramisu and pannacotta six nights a week.  The inside of the restaurant is inviting, with antique décor everywhere, giving it a rich and comfortable feel, and there is a beautiful outdoor area with tables dotted with flickering candles, amber gold tablecloths set with gleaming flatware and sparkling bicchiere da vino (wine glasses), surrounded by potted plants and an explosion of flowers for al fresco dining extraordinaire.

A couple of lucky people live onsite at the villa full time – Maximillian, a lanky, tall, bespectacled and always cheerful Italian man who does yoga every evening in the gardens at sunset and greets me with a grin and a few sentences, forgetting that I don’t speak Italian, and an older man whose name I don’t know, who smiles and bobs his head enthusiastically and says “Bongiorno!!!” every time I see him.

There’s an old stable, used now for storing the gardening tools, riding mower and the many, many chairs and tables on hand for le nozze (weddings), celebrations and parties that can be held at the Villa.  There’s also a chapel onsite – I haven’t seen it yet but I have a plan to enter at midnight during the full moon – I have a feeling it will be cool/creepy/spooky and unusual…I’ve heard there is a crypt below.

Another outbuilding is the oil mill.  A beautiful classic edifice, the roof has fallen in and rendered it unusable.  There are old stone baths in this building – a thermal spring runs under the property and once, the baths were used as soaking tubs for “taking the waters” but now this building is used for storage as well. NOTE: Oops!! I was mistaken. These are not baths – they are tanks that were used for the olive oil production back in the day, when Corliano produced award-winning olive oil. (Mea culpa!)  Why there are crystal chandeliers, I have no idea!   (Side note – San Giuliano Terme, a cute little village with the world-renowned ‘bagne’ (thermal springs and baths) is just about a mile down the road from the villa, and has a 5-star hotel with spa services, soaking pools, mud baths and other dreamy services available.)

The grounds, about 3 hectares (7+ acres) are lush and green.  Palm trees (I, for one, did not realize palm trees grew in Italy!), ancient cedar trees, lush hydrangea bushes with plump pink-spotted flowers causing the stems to bow from their weight, pink, white and red wild roses, English ivy, potted flowering plants and shrubs (which alllll need to be watered every day by me!) and two stone fountains -one with a plethora of goldfish and a couple of croaking frogs watched over by an ancient crumbling statue of a young boy, the other small pond containing seven nervous turtles who, immediately upon hearing me approach, nosedive into the murky water to avoid being seen.

There’s a spectacular ginormous tree, said to be planted in the early 1800s, called The Freedom Tree, under which you can sip espresso or cappuccino and enjoy a cantuccini or sfogliatine (Italian pastries) outside the café in back.  And everywhere on the estate geckos of all sizes can be found – some as tiny as a child’s finger – colorful, harmless prehistoric-looking lizards that scurry up the stucco walls of the estate and dart into the bushes, perturbed to have been splashed and awakened from basking in the sun as I water the flowers each evening.

But the main attraction at this palazzo is the artwork to be found within (and upon) the walls here.  Frescoes cover the ceilings, the hallways, the entryway, the ballroom walls…even the outside walls are decorated with ‘graffiti’. Painted by Andrea Boscoli in 1592 and Nicola Matraini in 1750, these original murals are simply incredible. Many of the paintings are allegorical, and some feature astrological and mythological beings and gods and goddesses.  There are dragons, cherubs, nymphs, minotaurs, tortoises, unicorns, angels, lions, fruit, princesses, centaurs, winged creatures, satyrs, kings and more.

As well as the frescoes, there are statues, busts, family crests, old photos and delightfully quirky décor around every corner and in every nook and cranny.  Even the steep spiral stairway to my tiny room has beautiful frescoes covering the old stone walls.

In the sitting room is a concave wall in which a fountain has been created using seashells.  Water flowed and cascaded down the various levels of shells until it reached the bottom.  In the center of the fountain, there is a dragon above a mythological face.  A few feet away, hidden above the mantel of the fireplace is a lever in the wall that the host could twist to enable smoke to come out of the dragon’s nose.  An amazing party trick in its day, I am sure!

My accommodations are so much more modest than the rest of the villa – a simple terra-cotta tiled floor in a stark stucco room with a modest single bed upon a wooden platform (think “convent”).  A desk, microwave and toaster oven from the 1980s, a convection hotplate from IKEA, 2 dishes, 2 glasses, a few mismatched bowls, a wine glass that I pilfered from the coffee shop downstairs, a dorm-sized fridge, an ancient 12” TV that may or may not be connected to cable (I haven’t tried turning it on yet), and a small bathroom with bidet and a shower stall.

This tiny room is where I sleep, make salads and write, and like Cinderella, I must be back at the villa every evening by 8 pm in case guests have questions and to assist late arrivals, so that Leonardo and Veronica can head home and know that someone is onsite for such a situation.  And when weddings are here at the manor, I am asked to assist with guests, pointing them in the direction of il bagno (the bathroom) or showing where parking is available.

I am able to take off from these ever-so-pressing responsibilities one day a week, and have planned a couple of overnights in Florence, the Cinque Terre, Siena and Verona so that I can explore at my leisure without having to hurry back on the last bus of the day, which is around 7 pm.

Ahh.  Did I mention the place is haunted?  Of course it is!  An ancient legend says that the ghost of Teresa della Seta Bocca Gaetani still roams the halls of the villa.  She was a beautiful woman from an ancient Pisa family who married Count Cosimo Baldassarre Agostini in 1755.  She visits occasionally, moving the tapestries and draperies in the villa, or slamming doors and windows. During a full moon, it is said that she has been seen in the driveway, guiding a carriage drawn by six splendid horses, and her laughter can be heard in the cellar and kitchen of the villa.  Ghost Hunters International, an Italian paranormal TV shows, filmed a couple of episodes here, complete with electro-magnetic field radiation detectors, ambient temp sensors and other ghost-tracking devices. If you’re so inclined you can find these on YouTube.

Just the other day, Leonardo said the resident cat, Lella, was staring intently into the ballroom, frozen and unmoving for a few minutes…simply staring.  And a bit later, when Leonardo returned to his desk, the lights in the ballroom were on – but the door was still locked…and all the light switches are inside the grand ballroom.  As he told me this, the hair on his arms stood straight up! In addition, Agostino reviewed the security video footage from a few days ago, and there was a bright ball of light that was slowly making its way up the stairs…

I’ve also come across some info on the internet saying that Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, stayed here and participated in some type of electroshock experiments here at the villa…It’s a good thing this stuff doesn’t bother me – no one mentioned this to me when I applied for the position! I’m hoping the ghost, Teresa, pops by to say hi to me one day soon.

Ciao.

“Life offers you a thousand chances… all you have to do is take one.”       Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun