Alla Collina - Luxury villa with domestic help, private pool, free produce

Alla Collina has every comfort, a glorious swimming pool and fabulous views. The house is entirely private and peaceful with splendid local walks and picnic opportunities aplenty. Rome is little over an hour’s drive away, the Umbrian cities of Orvieto (with its fabulously ornate cathedral and world class wines) and Perugia (over two thousand years old and simply dripping with atmosphere) are both less than an hour’s drive.

The luxurious main villa sleeps 8-11, in the grounds there is a studio and a cottage/ apartment that are rented exclusively with the main villa. The studio sleeps 2 and the guest cottage sleeps 6. This is a splendid high-end family house offering the maximum flexibility. Enjoy fabulous views of the nearby town of Todi.

The impressive front door opens into a wide, ancient, barrel-vaulted corridor and a stone flagged hall. Three arched glass doors give the hall a light and airy feel as well as very pretty views out to the garden. The main sitting room is off the hall: a charming room, large and full of light from its three sets of double doors which all open directly onto the terrace and loggia in our photos. Opposite the sitting room there’s a great games room. You can settle to a quiet board game (there are dozens to choose from in the cupboard - chess, Monopoly, Scrabble etc) or play a round of ping pong or maybe try your hand on the 8 ft x 4 ft pool table.

The kitchen, the laundry room and a half bathroom (cloakroom) are also on the ground floor. The kitchen is a cook’s paradise! There’s a breakfast table, an over-sized oven, 5 gas hobs, a dishwasher and a large fridge-freezer and just about everything from muffin tins to measuring spoons tucked neatly away in the cupboards.

There’s also a double bedroom (5 ft queen bed) on the ground floor with an en suite bathroom with a huge shower - this is “the garden bedroom” and opens directly onto its own little patio. Upstairs, you’ll find another, very comfy sitting room with a TV and lots of guide books plus three bedrooms all with their own bathrooms - the handsome master bedroom with extra single bed, a double bedroom with an extra single bed and the studio loft with three single beds and its own little sitting room, which is great for the younger members of the family.

The main house sleeps 8 in spacious comfort, however if your party is larger, you can book the studio and the guest cottage too - both available only to those who book the main house. The cottage has 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, a sitting room and a kitchen. The independent studio has a double bed and its own en suite bathroom. It’s a splendid little “extra” to ensure there’s more than ample space and privacy for the entire family.

Alla Collina is bellissima: luxurious, but without any stiff formality. It goes without saying that the bed linens are the finest! The organic vegetables, growing especially for you in the vegetable patch, add yet another thoughtful touch. Giusy is your housekeeper and cook - and she’s special too! As an extra service to her cleaning duties (included in our price), she can cook you authentic Umbrian meals, baby sit, deal with your laundry and - the cherry on the icing! - offer you cookery lessons that will mean you can wow your friends back home with newly acquired insights into the concept of the genuine Italian dinner party. There are full details of Giusy’s modest charges in the House Book, as well as lots of information on local sights, shopping, banks, restaurants etc.

To help you settle in, the kitchen is stocked with spices (plus rosemary, bay, sage, parsley, mint, basil, chives, thyme are growing fresh in the garden), salt, pepper, a bottle of fresh local cold-pressed unfiltered olive oil, a bottle of vinegar, 2 kilo’s of fruit in season, 6 bottles of still water (tap water is perfectly drinkable though), a bottle of local red table wine and one of white wine, a small bag of flour, small bag of sugar, coffee, black tea, a quart of parmalat long life milk, a packet of butter, a jar of apricot jam, and a loaf of bread fresh the day you arrive. Giusi will leave a lasagna or similar pasta dish (for you to cook in the oven) and lettuce for a salad.

Indulge yourselves - book Alla Collina and step into a truly harmonious lifestyle that will refresh even the weariest worker!