5 bedrooms castle, 847 m²

Cortona, Arezzo (province)

A romantic and unique hilltop castle with medieval origins and notable Gothic revival additions,
20kms from Cortona.
Habitable but in need of restoration. The robust stone building has a north and south wing divided by an internal courtyard and connected with a beautiful elegant cantilevered staircase.

The property has a stone pillared entrance leading onto a courtyard which contains a separate cottage consisting of two ground floor rooms and 3 plus bathroom on the first floor.There is also  stable block on the opposite side of the courtyard. Both buildings need restoring.

 A broad stone paved ramp leads to the main door and internal courtyard. To the right are 3 large cantinas, two  barrel vaulted. At the far end there is a covered area containing the old bread oven. To the left is the main door into the building. The walls of the courtyard are peppered with traces of stone supports of windows and doors, hints of the changing shape and history of the castello

The front door of the castle enters the 'newer' 16th century, late Renaissance south wing. Modifications were made to the castello, probably in the early 20th century, including the stairs, the Gothic revival style windows, the delicate iron balustrades, the terraces and the kitchen balcony. These additions give a romantic air to the south side of the building. 

The entrance hall has a barrel vaulted ceiling. There are two principal rooms both with high ceilings and Gothic French widows, one leading onto a Juliet balcony in one room and the other onto a large terrace both have far reaching views towards Assisi and the Sibillini mountains beyond. The latter has a huge stone fireplace dated 1570 with a carved coat of arms of the Medici family. Between the two principle rooms there is a small high room also with a Gothic styled French window leading onto the main terrace.
To the side of the fireplace steps lead to two smaller rooms.

The elegant stone staircase sweeps up to the top of the house from the entrance hall. The staircase links the south and north wings of the property and was constructed in 1916.

On the first floor landing to the left (south wing) there is an apartment comprising a master bedroom with access to a modern bathroom, a second bedroom, a living room and a kitchen all of which are double glazed and have central heating. 

Also accessed from this landing to the right (north wing first floor) is a large drawing room with large double aspect windows with deep bays formd from the very thick walls of the castello ... beautiful views near and far. Behind this there are a further four rooms two of which have en-suite shower rooms. The stairs proceed upwards to the top floor to the right (north wing) there is a replication of the floor below, but to a builders finish a large room with double aspect windows followed by 4 other good sized rooms, two of which have been opened up  to  make one large room by means of an impressive serena stone arch.
Above this floor there is an attic.

On the second floor of the south wing there are two rooms and an attic.

All the ceilings of  the first floor of the south wing and the first and second floors of the north wing have been sandblasted, chestnut beams and terracotta tiles exposed to all  their original beauty.

Outside is a charmingly grand terraced garden connected to the lower terrace via an elegant stone stairway. A gateway leads to a terraced olive grove adjacent to the garden.
At the front of the castello there is a pretty Renaissance chapel surrounded by a lawn and cypress trees