Casa Cerralta 14, Montalcino - Siena

Casa Cerralta, is set on a small hilltop surrounded by trees, within in the national park of Val D’Orcia a UNESCO world heritage site. The villa is in a fantastic position surrounded by brunello vineyards with wonderful views over farmland and the Tuscan countryside. This is the perfect getaway for large families or groups of friends wishing to holiday together in a peaceful location. With Casa Cerralta you have the best of both worlds, with a secluded position, yet the town of Torrenieri is only 5km away and here there is a variety of shops, banks, supermarkets, and a choice of restaurants.

The salt water swimming pool is located across the courtyard, down a flight of stone steps. This is a lovely private area, part walled and surrounded by mature hedging. There is plenty of poolside furniture to relax in, as well as a covered gazebo with table and chairs, should you wish to shelter from the sun. The swimming pool is rectangular in shape and is accessed via a ladder at one end.

The property is surrounded by mature trees and shrubs and has large attractive iron gates with a small drive leading to a courtyard.

At the far end of the courtyard there is a covered area with a large dining table and chairs for eight people, guests also have use of a brick barbeque which is next to the outside staircase to the upper kitchen.

There is a further paved patio area with table and chairs. This spot has great views over the countryside as well as the pool area.

The main entrance leads from the courtyard into a large hallway with the traditional terracotta tiled floor and beamed and tiled ceilings.

To the left of the entrance door is the internal staircase to the first floor, directly ahead is the ground floor (2nd) kitchen, which has fitted cupboards, a large built in gas hob, microwave oven and free standing fridge/freezer, to one side is a wooden table and chairs. Next to the kitchen is the downstairs bathroom with shower, hand basin and WC.

To the right of the entrance hall is a large brick archway that leads into the lounge. This is a huge room with four brick columns in the centre. There are various seating areas with comfortable sofas and armchairs.

In one corner is a large wooden dining table with eight chairs, there is also a second smaller wooden table and chairs. The main feature of the room is the large brick built open fireplace; to the left of the fireplace are large arched double doors which open out onto the courtyard.

There are several ways of accessing the first floor; there is the internal staircase from the main entrance hall, also outside there are two sets of external stairs one leads directly into another kitchen and the second leads up to the balcony of the master bedroom. At the top of the internal stairs is a small area with a sofa, writing desk and chair, this is a good place to curl up with a book to escape the heat of the day.

From here you have access to a tiled and beamed corridor off of which a series of doors open into five of the seven bedrooms. There is one twin bedroom and four double bedded rooms. The master bedroom and two other bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms with showers. The Master bedroom also has a large balcony with fabulous views.

There is a bathroom with an open shower in front of the twin bedroom and a bathroom with a bath-tub at the far end of the hallway. All the bedrooms have terracotta tiled floors, high beamed ceilings and windows with views of the countryside.

All are attractively furnished with matching wardrobes, chest of drawers and side tables. The twin bedded room and two of the double bedrooms also have single sofa beds, which is ideal for families with a younger child, wanting to share.

The upstairs kitchen is very well equipped with an oven, gas hobs, dishwasher and fridge/freezer. To the left of the kitchen is the flight of stairs leading up from the courtyard.

The lounge area is through a brick archway and has a large open fireplace with two armchairs in front of it. To the right of the fireplace is a large wooden dining table with eight chairs. There is also a TV with some satellite channels and a DVD player.

To the right of the fireplace a door leads to a further two bedrooms, both have double beds, and as with the other bedrooms, both these rooms have terracotta tiled floors, high beamed ceilings and windows with views of the countryside.

Both are well furnished with matching wardrobes, chest of drawers and side tables, one of the rooms also has a single sofa bed. In between the two bedrooms is a large modern bathroom with full sized bath and hand held shower.

There is a leisure/games room, which includes a billiard table and a table football, on the ground floor. There is an 8th bathroom in this room. There is also a bathroom situated near the swimming pool.

1 twin bedroom that can be set up as a double if requested when booking
6 double bedrooms, two of which can be set up as a twin if requested in advance

This is a fantastic villa for large groups of family or friends wanting to holiday together.

Virtually every window has far reaching views across the surrounding farmland and the Tuscan hillside.

The air conditioning at Casa Cerralta is charged as used.

Pets are allowed however there is a weekly charge of 25 Euros.

The private pool area has a paved surround leading to a lawn area planted with mature trees. Poolside, there are plenty of sun loungers and parasols, as well as a covered gazebo with table and chairs. The pool is accessed via a metal ladder at the shallow end.

The salt water swimming pool measures 12 metres by 6 metres, and has a depth of 1 metre increasing to 2.4 metres at the deep end where there is a diving board. Bathroom facilities - toilet and shower - are provided at the poolside. The pool is open from mid May to end of September.