La Foce lies close to the Tuscan towns of Montepulciano, Chiusi and Chianciano Terme in the Val d’Orcia.
The 15th century villa was restored by Anglo/American Iris Origo and her husband, Marchese Antonio Origo in the 1920s. She was the daughter of a very wealthy man who died when she was a child. Her mother rented, then bought Villa Medici in Fiesole, near Florence, where Iris was brought up.
Under the management of Iris and Antonio the property was turned from an arid, desolate, poverty-stricken group of farms into a beautiful estate in the ‘crete senesi’ (clay hills). They brought prosperity, cultural and social changes to the people who worked the land. At its height the estate had 57 farms over 7,000 acres.
Crete senesi…clay hills.
Today the estate is owned and managed by Iris and Antonio’s daughters. It is possible to stay in one of the apartments or the B&B on the property, or, as we did, visit the garden. It is open to the public for a small fee on Wednesday afternoons.
The garden was designed by family friend, Cecil Pinsent, who also designed the garden at Villa Medici.
It is a simple, elegant garden filled with perennials, green enclosures, box-edged beds and walks lined with soaring cypress trees.
Come for a walk through this delightful garden. We began at the wisteria tunnel…I want one!
On one side of the tunnel are gorgeous beds filled with peonies, roses, acanthus and more.
On the other, steps lead down to the more formal gardens.
The most outstanding part of the estate is the Strada di Valoresi, which has surely inspired many other scenes in Tuscany.
Iris Origo was also an author. I have just read her book “War in Val d’Orcia”, which tells of the awful time during WWII when the Origos were caught in the middle of fighting in the area.
They had taken in 60 children and helped escaped prisoners, partisans and refugees struggling to find food and shelter. I recommend it highly. When you experience the beauty and tranquility of this lovely place it is almost impossible to imagine the misery that was inflicted in those horrible times.
La Foce…www.lafoce.com
Strada della Vittoria 61,
Chianciano Terme.
(39) 0578 69101
email…info@lafoce.com