Casa Gorgacce (sleeps 6 maximum) is in the Niccone valley which runs from the Tuscan town of Mercatale di Cortona (3 km) into Umbria and the upper Tiber valley.
The house is private but not isolated.
The living accommodation is on the middle floor (the upper floor is unrestored). Steps arrive at a loggia or open, walled terrace. You enter what was the main farmhouse room which now has a modern kitchen at one end, a dining area, and a sitting area in front of the old fireplace, now with wood stove. There are beamed ceilings throughout the house and terracotta floors - it is all on one level apart from a single step into the bathroom (shower). The main double bedroom is at the front of the house, off the main room with a high vaulted beamed ceiling. The other two bedrooms ( a double and one with two single beds) are off a short hallway which leads to the bathroom.
There is satellite TV and DVD player in the sitting area. The kitchen
has a gas hob, electric oven, washing machine, dishwasher and fridge/freezer.
There are good views from each room, across to the Castle of Reschio on one side of the valley and of Sorbello in the distance.
A loggia (or terrace) by the house
entrance has a sun awning and a dining area.
The property is on a south-east facing hillside. The pool, new in 2009, is 9x4.5m and a barn giving daytime shade is equipped with table, chairs and barbecue. The pool has some solar panel heating and a safety fence, and there is a table tennis table. The house manager, a good cook, will provide a meal by arrangement for your first evening and always leaves a welcome pack.
All that is shown in the pictures and described
above is private to guests at the house. The owners have an apartment
at the other side of the building on the ground floor where they stay
when in Italy. It is not available for renting and in no way invades
the privacy of the rented house.
There are many day trips possible from Gorgacce to the surrounding historic and cultural centers of Umbria and Tuscany. Cortona is a twenty minute drive, and within an hour you can visit Perugia, Deruta, Assisi, Arezzo, Sansepolcro, Siena, Gubbio, Orvieto, Montepulciano and other hill towns. Florence is just over an hour by car or the fastest train.
"We thoroughly enjoyed staying at Casa Gorgacce and all wanted to stay longer." F & V May 2007
Casa Gorgacce was the first, Tuscany Villa rental home rented by David and Dilys
Cordingley since it was restored from a typical Tuscany farmhouse in 1993. They sold it in
2005 when they bought another villa in Umbria just a few kilometres away. The new
owners have made some substantial improvements with a new swimming pool and a
considerable upgrading of the internal decor and facilities. It is an ideal self catering,
Tuscany farmhouse.
It was a typical Tuscany "casa colonica", a house built for a tenant farming family. The
new house has three bedrooms (two double and one with two single beds), a bathroom
with shower and a large sitting/dining and kitchen room which is well furnished and offers
excellent value for a self catering holiday in Tuscany. The old but re-roofed open barn,
with barbecue, next to the pool provides a superb setting for enjoying a relaxing Italian
vacation. On the loggia, in front of the entrance door is a table and chairs for dining al
fresco with a super view. Inside there is TV with English language channels, DVD and CD
players. The well ordered kitchen with good working surfaces has all that is needed on a
self catering holiday.
Casa Gorgacce is in the Niccone valley and has been instrumental in making this beautiful
valley known to people from all over the world. Its success in bringing self catering
vacationers has led to other Tuscany houses and Umbria self catering villas and
apartments being made available for international rental. This Tuscany farmhouse villa has
wonderful views of the valley and the surrounding hills, some in Tuscany and some in
Umbria, as the valley is divided between these two regions of Italy which offer so much
rich culture and history to the visitor. There are two nearby villages, one in Tuscany and
one in Umbria providing for people on self catering vacations in Tuscany and Umbria.
There are many local festivals including the village fêtes in the summer, the chestnut
festivals in the autumn and the "living cribs" over the Christmas period - all traditions of
the Tuscany/Umbria border area of Italy.
Casa Gorgacce is well located for touring both Tuscany and Umbria. The famous Tuscany
hill town of Cortona, a real gem, is less than thirty minutes away. (Gorgacce Rentals also
has two aparments for rental in the centre of this historic town.) The upper Tiber valley to
the east has many walled towns that have made this area so renowned. To the west,
Siena is less than an hour's drive and in between is Montepulciano and Pienza. Orvieto is
to the south, Perugia is about forty minutes and Lake Trasimeno is just over the hill. From
the rail station at Terontola-Cortona, even day trips to Rome are quite easy. Florence is
about ninety minutes by car or by train. To the east lie the important Umbrian towns of
Assisi, Spello, Spoleto, Gubbio and many others famed not only for their unspoilt, walled
appearance and associations but for their wines, truffles olive oils and other delicacies.
Gorgacce Rentals has other villas and self catering apartments in both Tuscany and
Umbria reaching from Arezzo in the north (just south of Florence) to Cortona and Lake
Trasimeno in the south. We have been in operation since 1994 and have a full range of
luxury villas for rent, converted farmhouses, Cortona apartments for rent and Spello self
catering apartments.
