Santa10 is a hamlet composed by an observation tower, an 1800s villa, a homestead and a farm consisting of about 8 hectares. It’s so near Siena that by looking at the horizon, it feels possible to touch the city skyline. The observation tower, dated 1000 A.C. oversees the renowned “via Francigena”, one of the most ancient access roads to the city which pilgrim would use to go from France to Rome.
We decided to renovate “our place” and finished it up in 2014. We’ve been living here since 1996 and my family has owned the estate since the beginning of 1990s. We only used colors in harmony with the environment, natural mortars for flooring, roofs of aerated concrete, and cork to insulate walls.
As for furnishing, we tried to create a cozy space, which is comfortable, convenient, and at the same time aesthetically pleasant. That’s because we love enjoying life and admiring beauty! We have filled up the walls with our history and our travels, that is Tommaso’s pictures, Gianni’s painting as well as images representing what Santa10 is, its soul.
Our guests have plenty of choice in terms of accommodation. There is the observing tower, the villa and the limonaia. We also offer additional facilities, like a swimming pool with a stunning view of Siena skyline and a hot stone tub.
We are 4 people. There is Gianni, a charted accountant, sailor and farmer jealous of his tractor, quiet and meditative.
Then there is his wife, Elisa, a talkative mathematician who is always into something. Last, there are their two children: Tommaso, 1997 born, who is curious, lazy, funny and a bit ‘artist” and Teresa, the second one born in 2001, who is lively, stinging, curious and scheduled.
Our greatest passions are sailing and travelling.

The limonaia, that is the building where citrus trees used to be kept in winter, was renovated in 2012. We used natural mortars for flooring, such as Tuscan tuff for the bathroom. The aerated roof is made of wood, cork and tiles. In fact, we wanted to create a “breathing” house, hot in winters and chill in summer. Thanks to renovation work, today the limonaia is a ground floor independent apartment which consists of a large main room with two double beds, a small kitchen and a bathroom.
THE APARTMENT
Big open-space with bathroom and kitchen
The apartment features a large open-space functioning as living room and bedroom, a fully equipped kitchen and a big bathroom with shower. In the central room, there is a comfortable sitting corner as well as two tatami platform beds with latex mattresses.
The furniture used has either belonged to our family for generations or it has been purchased during our trips around the world. Therefore you can appreciate a perfect mixing of decor style: Tuscan, Moroccan, Turkish and South American. On the walls there are Gianni’s paintings.
The apartment has a glass door facing a barnyard, so it’s is filled with natural light. For winter, it’s equipped with an under floor independent heating system while for summersthere are both an AC system and a huge hunter sealing fan.
THE OUTSIDE AREA
The barnyard and the swimming pool
The glass door overlooks the old homestead barnyard, which includes a working rainwater well. You can also enjoy the weather having a meal in the outside seating area or just contemplate the scenic view of our vineyards.
The swimming pool, just few meters away, is 11x6 meters large and half a meter deep.
There is also a deck with sun beds and tables with parasols. At night, the swimming pool is always lighted.

La Torre is an ancient medieval watchtower (circa XIV a.d). The cellar was excavated in the tuff (the indigenous earth of the area) featuring an imposing vaulted ceiling and it is still being used today (this is where organic wines and a brandy are produced). Guests can still walk along a little path, which was used to escape from the Tower. The Tower still stands high on a hill overlooking the surrounding countryside, from where the gates of the city of Siena are visible as well as vineyards, olive groves and the ancient pilgrimage route- the Francigena. The east side of the Tower was enlarged in 1800.
DESCRIPTION
A medieval tower with the comfort of a villa on the first hill south of Siena
The villa and the tower are really comfortable. Overall, there are three levels for a carpet area of about 250 square meters. In detail:
• On the GROUND FLOOR there is a large kitchen with a 10-seater dining table, a cozy guest bath and a huge living room with a fireplace, books and pictures of our travels. This floor has two glass doors to access a terrace garden which is connected to a 500 square meter walled garden. The terrace is made of ancient bricks and runs the length of the farmhouse. You can enjoy a wonderful meal on the terrace sitting around the table, canopied by soft curtains, or just lie around reading a book or sipping an aperitif with the view of the Torre del Mangia and the Siena cityscape in full view.
• On the FIRST FLOOR there are three bedrooms and a fully equipped laundry room. We have a large double room with a private bathroom with shower. There is also a double room which shares the bathroom with a third room furnished with a 2 people bunk bed. On the firts floor
• On the SECOND FLOOR there is a big double room with private bathroom. There is also a mezzanine with an ancient Indonesian bed to be used as a sofa or additional bed. The room has four windows, one for each side, so it overlooks the entire valley.
Maximum occupancy: 8+1 people
OUTDOORS
The garden, the loggia, the hot stone tub, the swimming-pool and the stunning view
The villa has a secluded outdoor area, a swimming-pool and a parking.
From the villa, you can access a large ancient-brick terrace garden where you can find plenty of seating facilities to enjoy the beautiful skyline view of Siena, have a glass of wine or just relax under the sun. There are tables, chairs and parasols as well as an Indonesian canopy with comfortable sofas
From the terrace, you can walk into two walled gardens. In fact, we have a 500 square-meters garden, filled with frangrances and colors from roses, aromatic plants and centuries-old trees. In addition, there is a small garden with a hot stone tub.
The guests can enjoy a swim in our private pool which can be reached trough a 30-meter private walkway. Our pool is 11x6 meters large and from 1 to 2 meters deep.
There is also a deck with sun beds and tables with parasols. At night, the swimming pool is always lighted.
Last, we have a private parking, just few steps away from the villa.

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WINE EXPERIENCE: FROM THE CELLAR TO YOUR TABLE
Full Tuscan Meal (4 Courses) with Wine Tasting
A visit to our cellar and our vineyards with Gianni and a meal prepared according to the oldest cooking methods pairing our natural wine served in your Villa. The cellar, digged in the typical yellow "tufo" soil, is under the medioeval Tower.

WELCOME DINNER with a first bottle of Santa10 wine (Santa Subito 2015)
This is a simple meal consisting of pasta or soup or “torta salata” according to the season and a taste of some typical local products: local cheeses or greens in "pinzimonio", typical Tuscan Bruschette or fresh green salads with our olive oil. A ready simple meal just after a long and tiring trip. We leave the meal in your kitchen with a bottle of our red wine to introduce you in our taste (no service is included).

COOKING CLASS
Orsa Pellion di Persano was born into an aristocratic family in Turin where hot Chocolate was a rite de passage, “Agnolotti” a Christmas celebration and the “Bagna cauda”, a traditional poor dish with garlic and anchovies, a strict taboo. When she was twenty, she moved to Tuscany where she learned to substitute olive oil for butter, to rub garlic on bread, but above all to look beyond “just food” - to find its relationship to culture, history and art.
She graduated in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Siena then she moved in England, to follow a Masters course in Anthropology of Health and Food.
The food theme, which up to then had been strictly part of her studies, quickly became her method of economic “survival”. To stretch her scholarship funds, an Italian friend invited her to cook classic Italian meals at homes and banquets for London society. One evening they were asked to prepare a birthday dinner for the singer of Pink Floyd - five stuffed guinea-fowl left the guests speechless!
In the 2005 Orsa decided to put her knowledge of food and nutrition into practice organizing cooking courses for tourists and foreigners. More than simple cooking lessons, they are a real cultural experience.

INTO A HISTORICAL STUDIO-ATELIER IN SIENA ROOFS
Maze of alleyways, hidden courtyards, the white - gray marble, red brick ... look creeping between trefoils, portals and hidden courtyards ... Siena has been called the city of the details. It hides and reveals to the attention if you are able to go to a different plane of observation.
Paola&Vittorio want to propose is the city view from one of those places that you can only imagine. Siena view from one of the oldest houses in the town center where, on the roof of his palace, Tiberius Bichi Borghesi, gentleman of the past with a passion for photography, wanted to build 'with large expenditures' his personal atelier where to apply and refine the his art.
We propose buffet meals (lunch or dinner) or local wines tasting, or an aperitif arranged in an astonishing roof room with amazing view of Siena, or open air, in the terrace, if the weather is nice.
The room will be set up like a typical charming Italian homes to accommodate special guests. Embroidered tablecloths and antique fabrics, or linen, depending on the occasion, porcelains or refined earthenware, family silverware will embellish the buffet table. Wines and aperitifs will be served in crystal glasses and Murano glasses. On the tables floral arrangements for the season.

A GLASS OF NATURAL WINE ON A SAILING BOAT
Gianni has a Dehler 44ft sailing boat which is moored at Punta Ala on the Tuscan coast in front of Elba island – it has 3 cabins, 2 bathrooms and dinette with kitchen and sofas. Gianni is an expert skipper and a sea lover as his son Tommaso.
You can charter the boat with Gianni and/or Tommaso as chef-skippers, cooking for you a sailor’s lunch served with a glass of our white wine.
You can charter the boat for 1 day or more. There are 6 sleeping beds.

YOGA AND SHIATSU
Julia Sennati has many years of experience. She has a Master of yoga at the school Jati Yoga with Valeria Magrini and Leila Costa and a Master Shiatsu Zen, got to the Zen school at the Buddhist Monastery Zen Enso-Ji, with Zendo Tetsugen Serra and Rosa Myoen Raja. Julia every year goes in Rischikesc (Himalayas, India) to update her yogic work. She has repeated experiences of updating with one of the most qualified italian yoga teacher, Gabriella Cella. Meeting Lucia Carli, biologist, the yoga of Julia. They work, through yoga and meditation, on the deep physicality of the body, trying to raise the flip of particle wave in the molecule, made for 80% of water. So doing you get results , over time, on reactivation of the mood, affecting the immune system, on the state of health.

Santa10 is an 8.5 hectares hamlet and family-run farm, located just a few miles southeast of Siena city-center. At the core of our estate, there is the main construction: a medieval observation tower and its 1800s adjoining homestead with ancient underground cellar.
Our plantations (320 m above sea level) comprise of 100% organically grown vineyards and olive trees. The vineyards, which account for 1.5 hectares, were replanted in 2000s and gave their first yield in 2007. The most prevalent grapes varieties are red, namely sangiovese, canaiolo, ciliegiolo and colorino. Trebbiano, petit verdot and cabernet franc are grown as well. The olive grove comprises of more than 400 plants.
There are also other olive trees from previous plantations. The soil is made of tuff, marine origin sand and clay.