Article 10

Holiday villa with private pool at Tuscan Paradise. An historic private 4 bedroom (all en-suite)18C farmhouse with private pool in Tuscany overlooking an amazing lake sleeping 8. Additional studio for a further 5 not let independently to ensure complete privacy.

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I can hardly believe 12 months have passed since we packed our life's possessions into a lorry and moved out here to this beautiful location. At this time of the year the white road which leads to our house is dotted with bright red poppies, wild honeysuckle, a small pink variety of geraniums and bright yellow broom. With hellebores and pink cyclamen at other times I wonder if this wild array of beauty was ever tended and cultivated as a garden.....this is only marred by the onset of my usual pollen allergy. The residents of Anghiari always make an effort with planting, although not many have a garden as we would recognise it in England. Red ivy geraniums tumble from almost every balcony, and the place is amass with pots.

The first house of our project - the rental accommodation - is now complete, apart from a few small items of snagging. Only last week the gas and water were connected, which means we now have the luxury of a toilet. The builders hinted that they may be able to use it, but I made it clear that I was not interested in cleaning toilets after builders. We were impressed with the water pressure discharged from the taps and showers...but when we were told we were running a three- phase pump in the well, I can only ponder at this stage on the running costs of this luxury item.

Finishing touches are needed to the decorations and the electrician has completed the final connections with his jungle of multicolored flexes, pulled through plastic corrugated tubes which have long since been buried in concrete.The agility and confidence of our electrician as he pushed and pulled the miles of flex, was something to behold. The kitchen was fitted two weeks ago and the house which will be our home for the immediate future whilst work begins on the last building of the project. It also gives us a chance to test drive the fantastic facilities to ensure everything is perfect for our first guests arriving in May next year. Removals from Anghiari to the estate is the next thing on the agenda and we are forced to use the telephone to make appointments for quotations. Moving house is not big in Italy, many people remaining in the same house or flat for much of their lives.... accordingly our first 'removal man' arrived with a notepad and walked around making a scant note of the various pieces of furniture which would need to be relocated. We await the quotation!

During this time of visiting trades to the site, Giorgio and his builders have been working hard on the comparatively straight forward music studio. The roof came off and went swiftly back on. The ground floor ceiling tiles were re-laid, and every floor was made ready for the under-floor heating which we decided to have installed in this unit, mainly to provide a gentle heat for the grand piano, music library and assorted other musical instruments. The studio is now complete, just awaiting the windows downstairs and installation of the shelves for the massive orchestral library. The arrival of the grand piano is expected mid July,

At the start of April, Robert held his first chamber music course here in Anghiari with four students from Oxford University. The course was a great success with standing ovations given at the two end of course concerts. An interesting diary was written by one of the members which can be read by clicking this link HOLYWELL STRING QUARTET.

In a couple of days time, Robert leaves me home alone again as he goes first to London to teach his students at the Royal Academy of Music, followed by a 2 week trip to the USA to work with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. I am in charge of cleaning the pool, preparing for our final move and solving problems with the builders whilst building up my stock on ceramics..

Update.. The rental property, swimming pool, pottery studio, chamber music studio and our house are now complete, and ahead of schedule.... The restoration of these historic buildings has well exceeded our expectations. We offer our thanks to Giorgio, our Albanian builder and his team and all the other trades. It has taken almost 2 years to complete the project (800+ sqm). It has had its ups and downs as do all building projects, but we remain good friends with everyone that has worked here to build our paradise in Tuscany. We start receiving our first guests in a few weeks time and we are really looking forward to helping them have a holiday of a lifetime

As I write this final article, the skies are bright blue, the temperature is 35 degrees and the swimming pool is looking increasingly inviting as the hours tick by. (May 2007)

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