GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Ten minutes drive from Lucca's walls, on the road that leads towards the marble mountains of the Apuane and Camaiore, a small drive leads to an idyllic hidden valley, where La Capanna nestles snugly beneath its parent house. The Capanna, together with the owners main house, was built in 1590 and is set in ten acres of lush Tuscan countryside, originally part of an estate includ
ing a large villa, a chapel and a fountain with mosaics (named Ninfeo) of which some remains are still visible. A swimming pool sits to the right of La Capanna. While the owners of the main house travel frequently during the early summer, you may meet them on hot days at the pool's edge. There is a small independent Flat for 2 in the main house, which may be rented together with La Capanna, giving accommodation for group of 6. ACCOMMODATION
A large covered veranda (35 sq.m.), with a roof of traditional chestnut beams, has now been fitted with enormous windows and provides a spacious living/dining room, with views of the valley below. On entering the Capanna proper, there is a small kitchen on the right and a shower room to the left. The kitchen is small but well equipped; though it does not have a full size oven it does have an electric oven, a good size microwave, a dishwasher and a coffee-maker. From the entrance wooden stairs lead up to two large bedrooms with king size beds (one can be converted into twin beds) and a bathroom. Outside there is a further covered dining space plus a picnic table for the barbeque. The main house is just above La Capanna but is not at all intrusive, and all the main spaces of La Capanna look towards the valley. AROUND LA CAPANNA
The area around Lucca is wonderful, one of the best examples of man made landscape, where every change that has been wrought seems to have been for the best: the forested hills are sustainably managed for woods, chestnuts, wine and olive oil; vineyards and olive groves interweave with cypresses, unpaved roads and stone walls; occasionally one comes across islands of startling formality: a number of 16th and 17th century villas surround Lucca: Villa Marlia, Villa Reale, Villa Torrigiani are all worth a visit with their formal gardens and richly decorated interiors. Heading north one enters the area of the Apuan Alps, the steep mountains that gave the marble for Michelangelo's David and La Pieta'. Now they provide extensive opportunities for walking, cycling, climbing and caving. For the more urbane amongst us, Lucca is a jewel of a city, studded with churches and good restaurants. It also has a healthy antiques market and good shops. GENERAL INFORMATION
We restored the Capanna in 1992 shortly after we arrived from UK. Our friends coming regularly felt uneasy being just “guests”, they told us “why don’t you rent it out, we can pay and we will feel much better”
So we did, started putting ads and spreading the news. Soon we were full up, we really liked having nice happy people around. Ten years ago we got a boat, Sandro wanted to return back to the passion of his life: sailing. We got an Agency to run the place that they called “Casina” It was OK, but commissions were very high, and we had hardly any returning customer, so we decided to go back running the Capanna ourselves! PRICES and CONTACTS: see the HOME page under REVIEWS:
Here is what we are doing:
1) Cut prices by as much as 43% and greatly simplify the price structure.
2) Not asking for a deposit but requesting payment two weeks before arrival (we are not equipped for credit cards). All we ask our guests is to inform us as soon as possible if they are forced to change their plan so we can re-organise ourselves.
3) Prices to be all-inclusive with the exception of heating (charged at cost).
4) We’ll offer a welcome package should you have a late arrival, but in order to avoid food being left to waste we’ll ask you to give us your preferences for an evening snack on arrival and for breakfast the morning after.
5) We will keep providing two complimentary bottles of special traditional Prosecco per week as usual and in addition we have organised free wine tasting with a local wine producer a few minutes drive from us.
6) Check-in will be from 14:00 on Saturday and check-out before 10:00 Saturday morning, with a degree of flexibility if required.
7) We’ll ask FIRST TIME GUESTS to give us details on arrival time, location and also the rent-a-car arrangements, in order to provide personalized instructions on how to find us. For example if you arrive in Florence airport we need to know where you are getting your car, instructions can be very different depending on the location of the rent-a-car company. For any question click “Send Email” below the Cover Photo (and "allow" if requested).
