Villa Ardore, a mini-luxury retreat in the heart of Chianti

The new mantra of luxury travel, fixated on privacy for understandable reasons of intimacy, is to have a hotel of one's own. We have moved from the villa with its family flavour and 'local' style to the concept of a five-star mini hotel with amenities. The pandemic was a flywheel for this type of hospitality, because in an attempt at isolation, the choice of a detached house or a boat proved ideal, even when Covid was over. Thus began the boom with the emergence of a plethora of platforms and specialists in the sector. And fortunately, not only the rich and famous can aspire to an intimate holiday, without sharing space with unknown strangers.

In Italy, noble villas, ancient farms and small rural agglomerations, often foreign-owned and renovated by brilliant architects and internationally renowned designers, are scattered everywhere, from the masi in the Dolomites to the masserie in Apulia and Sicily, and of course in the Tuscan countryside, a pioneer in the sector with Chianti, where Villa Ardore is located. A 16th-century stone farmhouse among the hills and vineyards of Barberino d'Elsa, one of those that everyone dreams of one day buying to retire to a healthier, quieter life. And indeed it was a bit like that when Christian Scali and Stephen Lewis bought it in 2021 to create a home away from home (Los Angeles in their case) for them and their guests.

It is easy to become infatuated with the Tuscan countryside, a little less so to preserve its authenticity by accommodating travellers who do not intend to make any sacrifices on holiday. Here, Christian and Stephen have succeeded, entrusting the project to architect Massimo Pierattelli, a Tuscan from Florence, who has hardly touched the structure and interiors, leaving wood, stone and light as the absolute protagonists of the project. Only eight rooms with wooden doors (and latch), princely beds with hand-embroidered duvets and bedspreads, and in the common areas leather armchairs, hideaway TVs, works by artists with ateliers less than 10 kilometres from the villa and, piece uber alles, the marvellous landscape that every window frames.