258 HEKTAR GROSSES LANDGUT ZU VERKAUFEN IN SIENA, TOSKANA

Probably built between the 15th and the 16th century as a watch tower, the manorial villa (892 m² – 9,598 ft²) is laid over a total of four floors, the last oneof which needs a total restoration and renovation before being usable. On the ground floor is the old kitchen, a beautiful vaulted hall and several storages facing the central courtyard. Up a first staircase one reaches the mezzanine floor with a beautiful reception hall and several frescoed rooms revolving around the the central courtyard. Up again, the first floor includes a stunning 19th-century hall, a library and several bedrooms and sitting rooms. The third and last floor is home to a few bedrooms and loft.

A cozy manorial chapel (80 m² – 861 ft²) is located right at the center of the garden in the property.

Right in front of the villa, the barn (527 m² – 5,670 ft²) is laid over two floors and houses on the ground floor the old wine cellar (no longer used) and a toolroom, while on the upper level is a guesthouse. Set right next to the barn, the carpenter’s house (187 m² – 2,012 ft²) is currently used as a warehouse.

The farmer’s house (478 m² – 5,143 ft²) is laid over two floors, following the typical Tuscan layout with stables and storages on the lower floor the farmer's house on the upper level. The casalino (148 sqm - 1,592 sqft) is another Tuscan country house on two floors, with storages on the ground floor and a guesthouse with indepdenent access on the upper level.

The monastery (370 m² – 3,981 ft²), located right next to the casalino and formerly inhabited by nuns, is made up of two main wings connected by a central building. One of the wing is used as a warehouse, while the upper, slightly uphill from the first one, has been converted into a charming guesthouse.

The house of light (54 m² – 581 ft²) is a technical facility to supply electricity to the other buildings. The property is then completed by a warehouse (82 m² – 882 m²) and two stables (totaling 72 m² – 775 ft²).

Ah, when thou has returned unto the world,
and rested thee from thy long journeying,
after the second followed the third spirit,
do thou remember me who am the Pia;
Siena made me, unmade me Maremma:
he knoweth it, who had encircled first,
espousing me, my finger with his gem.

(Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio, V, vv. 130-136)

The hamlet was built around a medieval watchtower (whose existence seems to date back as far as 1039 CE). This is clear on the main villa, which still has the tower embedded in its structure. The tower was progressively enlarged into a castle (in 1100 Cerbaia was already registered as a castle and not as a simple tower) with its own walled courtyard. When the military purpose of the tower ceased the walls were used as a base for the villa that was built around a central courtyard with arches and a well at its center.

The first, real documental evidence of the property, however, is from a medieval parchment stating that «on September 11, 1188 […] Ubertino de Grilla with his wife Bellantedesca, Torpino and Obertido d’Onesto with his wife […] sold to Earl Umberto half of the castle in Cerbaia, with half of the court and half of the servants, for the sum of £ 400 of the present currency».

In the mid-13th century several contrade, including Cerbaia, joined together into a single comune that took the name of Communis Plebis de Molli or, in modern Italian, Pieve a Molli. In 1318, Cerbaia was the biggest hamlet of the comune and included roughly 30 families living in several villas and country houses.

A deed dated March 18, 1455 marks the first move by the Tolomei family towards buying all the properties constituting the comune of Pieve a Molli, a process that was finally concluded in 1551.

An administrative document dated 1720 describes Cerbaia in great detail and it is stunning to note how all the buildings are still there today, pretty much unchanged as if time stopped flowing.

Some historical records talk about the existence of the main building in the estate as far back as 1039 CE, when it was listed as a military tower defending the Sienese countryside. The structure was transformed into a villa during the 16th century.

Converted by the current owners just a few years ago into a prestigious private mansion, the estate has been recently restored and refurbished, while remaining intact in the original structure. The materials are original, as well as the layout of the interior, which has undertaken consolidation work.

The property is surrounded by 258 hectares of land (637.5 acres). Most of the estate is covered by coppice woodland (195.5 ha) and chestnut grove (26.8 ha). The remaining surfaces are covered by arable and grazing land (35.3 ha) which could be used to replant vineyards and olive trees (roughly 5.0 hectares in the past).

Dorf mit Dienstleistungen (9km; 10min), Siena (18km; 25min), Colle di Val d'Elsa (24km; 30min), Monteriggioni (25km; 35min), San Gimignano (39km; 50min), Volterra (42km; 50min), Montalcino (59km; 1h 10min), Pienza (72km; 1h 20min), Montepulciano (78km; 1h 10min), Firenze (81km; 1h 20min)

Firenze Vespucci (87km; 1h 20min), Pisa Galilei (123km;1h 40’), Perugia San Francesco (132km; 1h 40min), Bologna Marconi (169km; 2h), Roma Ciampino (261km; 3h), Roma Fiumicino (243km; 2h 40min), Forlì Ridolfi (248km; 2h 45min)