A captivating farmhouse in the Tuscan countryside

This part of the Val d’Orcia is not only delightfully picturesque but also wonderfully tranquil. No wonder the owner and her family fell in love with such a mesmerising setting.

‘My favourite view is of the hillside opposite the house,’ she says. ‘I call it “my hill” and there is something so beautiful about it. I love the way the clouds float past it and how the grass grows in the meadow, so that in spring you see the breeze blowing through it, making green waves across the landscape. It is very poetic.’

The owner is an amateur equestrian who was unfamiliar with this part of Tuscany until she was introduced to it by her husband. They started spending holidays in the Val d’Orcia, then rented a house in the area, eventually deciding that they would love to buy a place of their own as an escape from their main residence in France. But the task of finding somewhere that would suit them and their son was not easy.

MAY WE SUGGEST: A mother & daughter's restoration of a 16th-century Tuscan convent

‘Around 12 years ago, we started to look for a farmhouse or a ruin to update and convert and finally we found two properties that we liked in the Val d’Orcia,’ she says. ‘We settled on this farmhouse, but it then took another four years to buy it because the process was so complicated. This did give us plenty of time to think about our plans for the house, though, and to observe how the landscape changes throughout the year. You really appreciate all the seasons here and the different ways the farmers work the land in each one.’

The 18th-century farmhouse, known as a podere, consisted of a number of smaller stone buildings and stables arranged in a U-shape around a central courtyard. It had begun to crumble and required extensive restoration. The owner assembled a team to work on the project, including the Italian architect Matteo Pamio of Roberto Pamio + Partners, and the French interior designer Elodie Sire of D.Mesure, who has also designed two homes in France for the family.

‘It is a Unesco-protected area, so you have to build in the traditional way,’ says the owner. ‘But it’s also an area of seismic activity, so the building codes are strict. We wanted the podere to appear the same but in a restored condition, so the exterior walls were retained and, from the outside, the farmhouse looks almost exactly as it did originally. Inside, we had a lot more freedom to do what we liked.’

MAY WE SUGGEST: A mother & daughter's restoration of a 16th-century Tuscan convent

After she and her husband bought the house in 2011, there were four more years of planning and construction. They were allowed to raise the ceiling height on the ground floor – which used to accommodate the stables – and to add more windows, while creating a fluid arrangement of spaces. This includes an open-plan sequence comprising the kitchen, dining area and family room, which leads out to a sheltered veranda with a view of the hills.

Working closely with Elodie, the family sourced materials and characterful pieces of architectural salvage that suit the modern rustic atmosphere. The semi-open-plan kitchen and dining area was partly designed around a vintage cabinet originally from a French pharmacy. ‘We would go to flea markets together to look for lighting, mirrors and furniture, and then work on the arrangement of the rooms, as well as the textiles and fabrics,’ says Elodie. ‘I also designed custom furniture for the main bathroom, a desk for the owner and the bunk bed in her son’s room. I love the quality of the detailing and the fact that there is a coherence to the house, as well as the way it is integrated so well into the surroundings.’