Luxury in Tuscany

A NEGLECTED 800-year-old Tuscan estate – once home to the Medici family – has been redeveloped and reborn as Toscana Resort Castelfalfi. 

In the 1960s, the 2,700-acre estate was abandoned by all but five of its residents in a countrywide rural exodus. In 2007, travel group TUI AG discovered the property. 

Says TUI director Stefan Neuhaus: ‘From the outset, the idea was to restore the ancient village and bring it back to life. We are preserving the site’s original structure and re-instating part of Italy’s heritage, but with all the additional modern services and standards that you would expect from such an upmarket resort. ’

Work on transforming the estate into a luxury resort began in 2011. The renovation of the borgo – the outskirts of the castle walls – started with the restoration of the residential complex comprising 41 apartments completed in 2013, and with the development of the first of three planned hotels.

Scattered throughout the estate are 26 original farmhouses, or casali, four of which have been dismantled and re-built using the same stones. The buildings’ wooden beams have also been preserved and each farmhouse has a traditional terracotta tile roof. With the capacity to adapt each interior according to its owner’s specifications. Several of the properties also line the resort’s 27-hole golf course. Some of the farmhouse are available for weekly rentals.

The estate is also a hunting reserve, with wild boars, deer, and foxes.

‘We searched for this place for a long time,’ says Mr Neuhaus. ‘What we are developing is not a typical resort; it’s a new approach for the international luxury travel market that offers apartments, a range of farmhouses, a luxury club concept and four-and five-star hotels.’


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