Villa Guardavalle
A country house in the Pisan hills, let to one party at a time
Sleeps
21
Bedrooms
7
Bathrooms
6
Built
19th century
Villa Guardavalle stands on a wooded rise in the Colline Pisane, twenty minutes inland from the coast. Yellow walls, dark green shutters, a terracotta roof under umbrella pines — the kind of house a Pisan family built to escape the summer, and still uses that way.
Seven bedrooms, five of them ensuite and all air-conditioned, sleep up to twenty-one. You take the whole of it: the library up the great staircase, the cross-vaulted hall, the pergola where everyone ends up eating, the pool behind its oleander hedge, and the woods that go down the hill.
Why people come
01
The whole house
One party at a time, with the pool, the pergola and the woods to yourselves.
02
The pergola
A long table in the shade along the south front. Most of the holiday happens here.
03
The library
Old maps, deep chairs and a green baize table, cool on the hottest afternoon.
04
Family-shaped
A children’s room, a shallow end, and a garden with nowhere dangerous to get to.
Where the holiday actually happens
An iron pergola runs the whole length of the south front, shaded from late morning and cool by lunchtime. The long table under it is where the party eats, and in practice nobody eats anywhere else between June and September.
The house
A pool behind the oleanders, and woods below
The pool is screened on every side by hedge and oleander, with terracotta paving warm enough to lie on into October.
Below the garden the ground drops away into the villa’s own woodland — umbrella pines and holm oak, and a view over the Colline Pisane towards the coast.
What guests say
“Home is huge. We were 6 couples and we each had a bedroom with a bathroom. The 5 children had a large, well-equipped dorm room for children.”
“Fabio's great villa was the perfect place for our group of 16. We enjoyed the generosity of the house and garden to the fullest. Thanks to the pool we were able to cool off wonderfully for the volleyball and table tennis matches (accessories were to be found in the house).”
“It is a magnificent house with a spacious and well-kept green space where you can have lunch and play with friends and children. Fabio's availability and promptness is impeccable. I highly recommend groups with kids looking for spacious spaces, both indoor and outdoor.”
Getting here
Thirty-five minutes from Pisa airport, five from the village, forty from the sea.
Pisa airport is thirty-five minutes away, Florence about an hour and a quarter. The coast at Marina di Cecina is forty minutes, and Volterra an hour through the hills.
Come by car. Crespina Lorenzana has a shop and a couple of good places to eat, but the pleasure of this part of Tuscany is the driving — the Colline Pisane, the wine road down to Bolgheri, the empty back roads towards Volterra.
By car
- Crespina Lorenzana5 min
- Pisa International Airport35 min
- Pisa30 min
- Marina di Cecina40 min
- Volterra60 min
- Florence80 min
Questions we are asked
Can we rent part of the house?
No. Villa Guardavalle is let on an exclusive-use basis: the whole house, the pool and the grounds, with no one else on site during your stay.
How many does it sleep?
Up to twenty-one, across seven bedrooms. Five of the seven are ensuite and all of them are air-conditioned.
Is it good for small children?
Yes. There is a children’s room with two beds, a cot and high chair on request, and a garden that is enclosed on every side.
Can we bring a dog?
Yes, well-behaved dogs are welcome. Tell us in advance so we can leave the right gates closed.
Do we need a car?
Yes. The village is five minutes away and everything else in this part of Tuscany assumes you are driving. There is parking in the grounds.
Can we eat outside?
Almost everyone does. The pergola along the south front seats sixteen and is shaded from late morning onwards.
Ask about your dates
Tell us when, and how many of you. We reply personally with a price for the whole house.
EnquireThe person who answers
Fabio Petrucci
Fabio has been letting these houses since 2010 and answers every enquiry himself. The figures below are from his own public profile, not from ours.
- 16
- Years hosting
- 264
- Guest reviews
- 4.86
- Average rating
- ★
- Superhost
Tuscany Like
Not the right house?
This is one of five, looked after by the same person and let the same way. They differ in size, in character and in what is on the land.