Villas in Tuscany - Podere Scannelli is a vacation villa for rent in the beautiful countryside of Siena, in the Italian region of Tuscany. With a private swimming pool and extensive grounds this marvellous house makes an excellent base for your Italian holiday.
The villa was originally built in 1772, as part of the old Della Scala Institute. In the 1990s it was run as a bed and breakfast and so every bedroom has an en-suite bathroom. The impressive pool commands panoramic views of the beautiful Tuscan countryside, and the villa's professional and hugely experienced staff can organise extra maid service or a cook with ease.
The villa itself is over two floors and built in a traditional 'U' shape, forming a courtyard, and with an upper floor across the entrance to complete the quadrangle. The ground floors on all sides were originally stables.
The left wing of the villa is now a massive living room with two seating areas, and has a stereo system and a piano. It has glorious vaulted ceilings and retains the original feed boxes and sloping floors from its days as a stable. The furnishings here are comfortable and rustic, and the room is separate from the rest of the house - entrance to the bedrooms, bathrooms, dining room and kitchen lies back through the courtyard.
The bottom part of the 'U' contains the internal staircase leading to the bedrooms. This part of the house has a long dining room with a traditional Tuscan fireplace and a kitchen well-equipped with dishwasher, American and Italian coffee machines, American-style fridge-freezer and an oven. Upstairs, long corridors radiate outward, leading to the six bedroom suites. Each bedroom has either a double or a double and a single bed, and an en-suite bathroom with shower cubicle and hairdryer.
The right wing of the villa is open plan but self contained, and has its own kitchen corner, bathroom, a double bed and a single sofa bed. This apartment may be rented together with the main house or separately.
Upstairs in this wing, and with its own staircase, is an apartment used by the owners on the rare occasions they stay here. These apartments are out of the way and in no way intrude on the privacy of the guests in the villa or at the pool.
Facilities include phone, fax, internet access and satellite TV. Guests at the villa don't have access to the washing machine but the daily maid will provide laundry service for an extra charge. There is an iron in the kitchen for last-minute pressing of clothes.
