Nestled in the exquisite hills of central Tuscany, a stone's throw from San Gimignano and Volterra, this prestigious property overlooks an exceptionally unspoilt landscape. It is adjacent to the exclusive Golf Club of Castelfalfi. The complex consists of three units totalling 700 square meters. Its farm estate of 8 hectares includes 6 hectares of organic olive grove (Bio-certified) and a fruit orchard. A harmonious garden designed by a famous landscape architect surrounds the villa, and a breath-taking infinity pool with mother-of-pearl mosaic stands on the edge of the hill. It took the present owner almost 3 years (2009- 2011) to completely refurbish the property to the highest and most modern standards.

The refurbishment particularly focused on the following aspects:
- Uncompromised respect of Tuscany patrimony;
- Implementation of eco-friendly technologies;
- Minimization of running costs;
- Maximization of automation (“user friendly” house with absolute minimum maintenance and human involvement);

In addition, the renovation paid extra attention to some aspects inherent to modernising an ancient Tuscan farm:
- Dealing with superficial building foundations. Indeed, constructing strong and deep foundations was a secondary priority in the past, as survival and short- term return on investment were the farmer’s main concerns;
- Dealing with rising damp. As cattle occupied the ground level, rising moisture was not considered to be a health issue at the time.
- Dealing with soil erosion. Most of the Tuscany soil consists of clay, which, if not shaped properly, significantly erodes during heavy rains.

UNCOMPROMISED RESPECT OF TUSCANY PATRIMONY
The renovation employed only local skilled manpower with proven artistic background to restore all visible particulars, such as brickwork and painting. Also, the rebuilding of all ceilings adhered to original construction techniques, i.e. with brick vaults in former cowsheds, and with flat bricks (cotto) and chestnut wood beams in other areas.

RENOVATION PARTICULARS

“Zero footprint” concept
The property’s all-electric setup discards the use of fossil energy. In order to minimize running costs and to balance energy consumption, a solar power plant producing more than 30 kilowatts per annum has been built on-site. This, combined with advanced green technologies, awarded this property the much sought-after energy performance certificate “A+”.
Examples of implemented green technologies are:
- Vertical closed loop geothermal system (600m of drilling), combined with redundant high-performance heat pumps, to heat/cool the buildings;
- Pyramid shaped under-floor heating/cooling;
- Dual-flow ventilation in all units;
- Thick wood fibreboard insulation;
- Advanced ventilated roof (13 different layers, including Gore-Tex);
- Polarized low emissivity windows;
- LED lamps for all heavily illuminated areas.
Practically speaking, combining these technologies allows for a comfortable inside air temperature of 22°C during wintertime at a fraction of usual cost and around 10°C difference between inside and outside air temperature during summertime at almost no running cost, hence avoiding the installation of energy-consuming conventional air conditioning systems.

Centralized design
All four units share the same utilities, which reside in one technical room, but partitioning equipment has been installed in order to allow each unit to operate independently. This design reduces maintenance costs while enhancing overall reliability.

Water management
In order to preclude the possibility of irrigation shortages, three independent water supplies have been installed:
1. Potable water is provided via a connection to the public network. Two small intermediate water tanks have been installed so as to streamline the supply. Hot water permanently circulates through highly isolated pipes (1°C of temperature loss per kilometre) in order to enhance occupant’s comfort. At regular intervals (once per week, at night), hot water temperature rises to around 70°C for a short period of time so as to guarantee bacteria-free water. In addition, a water softener removes limestone, as public water is relatively hard.
2. Rainwater is recovered from the roofs and redirected to a very large, armed- concrete, storage tank with a colossal capacity of 170,000 litres. The water is then filtered twice (25μ and activated carbon) and is subsequently either redirected towards toilets and washing machines or filtered a third time (5μ) and sterilized by a U.V. lamp before being redirected towards the swimming pool. It is needless to point out that the quality of this water is excellent, even if it is not intended to be drinkable.
3. A large pond containing around 900,000 litres of water is strategically located on the highest part of the estate. Its water is distributed to each garden zone through underground piping. The garden, planted with around 7,000 plants, boasts a fully automated watering system that requires minimal human involvement.

Structural stability
The renovation incorporated Northern European style foundations in order to guarantee maximal structural stability and avoid rising damp. Indeed, besides complying fully with earthquake requirements, these foundations offer outstanding performance against rising damp, thanks to their advanced type of underground ventilation as well as the presence of Vandex powder, which vitrifies the concrete. In addition, micro-piles have been added to the foundations in order to reduce compressive loading and therefore enhance soil stability in areas where it was believed to be necessary (i.e. the converted hayloft that lies on the edge of the hill).

Security
Whilst the area is deemed safe, the following infrastructure has been installed:
- CCTV system with numerous cameras (12);
- Advanced alarm system (with mobile phone communication);
- Security-proof glass.

Telecommunications
The estate is connected to internet through high-speed WI-MAX (8mb/s). Two underground landlines were installed during the repair of the access road. Therefore, Broadband Internet is also available through ADSL.

THE INFINITY SWIMMING POOL

The infinity pool is the masterpiece of the property. As the pool lies on the edge of the hill, it offers breath-taking views of the surroundings. What’s more, sunlight superbly reflects off of the water thanks to the iridescence properties of the pool’s mother-of-pearl mosaic.
While its dimensions (14m x 7m) make it undeniably a large swimming pool, its constant depth (1,25m) allows for the practice of most kinds of water sports, including swimming.
As all other systems in the house, pool water treatment is fully automated and can be done either by salt or by conventional products. Last but not least, the water is heated through the house’s low energy consumption geothermal system.