La Villa Del Lungo Viale · Pis474

A nineteenth-century residence in its own cypress park, at the foot of Monte Pisano
Ref. PIS474
The approach is along a long avenue shaded by great trees, where light falls in patches on the gravel and the sound of the road fades behind the hedges. At its end, beyond a lawn kept like a carpet and a crown of cypresses, the straw-coloured façade of the villa unfolds with its green shutters and wrought-iron balcony, composed and symmetrical just as its builders imagined it. This is the countryside of Vicopisano, in the Arno plain, with the wooded outline of Monte Pisano behind and Pisa only a short drive away.
The park and the arrival
The estate extends over approximately 42,000 sq m of private land, a small world enclosed by rows of cypresses, open lawns and deep masses of green which, seen from above, draw an almost English landscape garden. The driveway loops around the front lawn, punctuated by clipped hedges and lamp posts, while footpaths wander beneath the canopy towards old stone benches. On summer days the shade of the great trees is a natural refuge, and in the evening the cypresses stand dark against a sky slowly fading over the plain.
The courtyard and the service buildings
Behind the villa lies a broad stone-paved courtyard, edged in brick and set with large terracotta pots, overlooked by the outbuildings with their arched doorways and round oculus windows. Here are two independent guest apartments, two garages, two laundry rooms and several service rooms, allowing the house to be lived as a large family home or to welcome friends without giving up privacy. A great umbrella-shaped tree watches over the courtyard, where life moves outdoors around the barbecue and the patio.
Inside the villa
The total built area is approximately 1,200 sq m, arranged over 25 rooms with 11 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms. One enters through a hall with a chequered floor and a fanlight doorway framing the garden, and the generosity of the spaces is felt at once: high ceilings, thick walls that hold a steady temperature through the seasons, arched windows with diamond-pattern grilles letting soft light fall across the terracotta. The reception rooms follow one another between fireplaces, floor-to-ceiling bookcases and quiet corners for conversation, while the dining rooms and large kitchens speak of a house made for gathering.
The bedrooms and the upper floors
A staircase rises to the upper floors, where terracotta gives way to herringbone parquet and the landings open like small sitting rooms. The bedrooms look onto the park through tall windows and balconies level with the tops of the cypresses; the bathrooms, clad in pale gold-veined marble, offer generous tubs. Beneath the roof, attic rooms with exposed beams and brick arches provide bright, intimate spaces, perfect as a study, a library or a music room.
Comfort and services
The villa has central heating fuelled by mains natural gas and is connected to the public water supply; in the park an old well, no longer in use, survives as a reminder of the estate’s agricultural past. The house keeps its historic character intact while offering the services of a contemporary residence.
The setting
From the stillness of the park, Pisa, Florence and the Tyrrhenian coast are all within easy reach. Pisa International Airport is about 20 km away, some twenty minutes by car, and Florence airport about 70 km. It is a rare position: close enough to the city to live in the villa all year round, far enough away to still hear the silence of the Tuscan countryside.
Price: € 3,300,000