Holiday Cottage in Tuscany

A Holiday Cottage in Tuscany? Yes, you read that correctly… Woodfarm Barns has branched out and now has expanded the business slightly beyond Suffolk. Into Romantic Tuscany!

Ok, I’m ridiculously excited as there’s so much to tell! I have two favourite places on this little planet of ours. Suffolk and Tuscany. Having first explored Tuscany 20 years ago (and again in recent years), I went there a lot in 2017 and 2018. Having built my business in Suffolk, firstly on dry land and then on the water with our Barges, I’ve now expanded it just a little further. With a Holiday Cottage in Tuscany!

The first thing to tell you is that it isn’t quite ready yet! Not long to go now though.

‘Woodfarm Tuscany’ is a delightful little country cottage, called ‘Casa Trebbio’. Sleeping 2-4 (bedroom and sofa bed) the house has breathtaking views across the Garfagnana, which is the upper valley of the river Serchio, just 20 minutes North-West of Lucca. It’s just 45 minutes from Pisa, which is only a couple of hours from the UK. So now we have your staycation covered, as well as short breaks or holidays in Italy! Let’s call it a ‘Goawaycation’ shall we? Or ‘Woodfarm, the Italian job’?.

Location! Location! Location!

‘Casa Trebbio’ forms part of a tiny hamlet near a tiny village called Piazza Di Brancoli, on a hillside overlooking the Garfagnana Valley towards Lucca. This is a hilly region, and ‘Casa Trebbio’ is a ten minute drive up from the bottom of the valley. There are some shops (for provisions) at the bottom of the hill, as well as a cafe and bar, and then there are more dotted along both sides of the main road nearby.

A five minute drive further up the hillside there’s a restaurant and bar.

I bought this house because of the views, pure and simple. Woodfarm Barns in Suffolk is very rural, and so is our Tuscan cottage.  That’s the appeal to me, and I hope it is to you.

With stunning views and ease of access to plenty of popular towns and cities, I can’t wait to share this little old farmhouse with you.

It’s all on one level, which is the top floor of three storeys. You approach from the side and enter the fully enclosed terrace, which you see to the right on the photo below. There are two storeys of cellars below, which I hope in time will also feature as part of the house.

Casa Trebbio

I viewed a lot of houses in the area and then ended up buying the first one I’d seen! I fell in love with the views and so will you. The house itself required complete renovation, but then I’m used to that. The views don’t need any renovating; they’re perfect just the way they are.

Our Cottage in Tuscany will be the same quality we have won multiple Gold Awards for in Suffolk.

When you stay at our Holiday Cottage in Tuscany you will undoubtedly notice some quintessentially English influences, and again, will have every modern comfort you could wish for. Just in a gorgeous old country house in Italy! The aim was to make it a little slice of Woodfarm, tucked away in the Tuscan hills.

This house is all about the incredible views, a cosy place to stay with everything you’d expect from us, in a location giving you access to some of the most beautiful parts of Tuscany and indeed Italy.

 This is the view from the lounge, bathroom and garden!

The house has a nice blend of Woodfarm and Suffolk, to give it that home from home feel and a taste of England,along with a traditionally built and finished Tuscan country home. The floors have all been relaid, with proper terracotta bricks, apart from the bathroom, which has gorgeous grey tiles.

I scoured antique shops in Suffolk up to, and after, the COVID pandemic, which put us behind three years! It’s all been shipped over, and in June 2023 I went over to sort it out, and build a kitchen. I sourced some amazing tiles for the walls, which are just perfect!

From the balcony, you’ll enter into the kitchen (cucina), which has everything you need, including your own pasta maker! Beautiful views to the East of the terrace.

The kitchen leads through to the dining room (sala da pranzo), which also has that stunning view to the East.

A corridor (corridoio) then leads to through the rest of the house, with the bedroom (camera da letto) first, which has the same wonderful view as the kitchen and dining room.

The corridor opens up into the lounge (soggiorno, which has two windows look down the valley to the West, as does the bathroom (bagno). There is a sofa-bed in the lounge so the house can sleep 2-4.

I would suggest you plan day trips from the ideas on our ‘Out & About’ page, and mix it up with days just chilling out at the house.

To go with those views I had a terrace built, which involved planning permission, architects, surveyors etc as you can imagine. But I have to say it was exactly what I envisaged the day I first set foot up there, and it was well worth every Euro!

You have comfy seating, pizza and bread oven, and a BBQ. So if you fancy the idea of sitting back and relaxing with the warm Tuscan air wrapped around you as you sip a nice glass of local wine, waiting for your handmade pizza or locally sourced BBQ items to finish cooking, then you’d better get yourself on our VIP Tuscany list (at the bottom of this page). We’ll even make sure there’s a proper pasta maker in the kitchen, along with local flour and eggs so you can really get into the spirit!

The terrace is the perfect sunny spot to enjoy your morning coffee, or in the evening you can watch the sun slide away behind the hills. It’s made for eating, drinking and soaking up the sun and the view.