A rare retreat
Borgo Santo Pietro is a 13th century villa in the heart of undeveloped Tuscany that has been lovingly restored to create a luxury hotel experience quite unlike any other, says Amanda Constance
Above: Delivery - Italian Style
We walked along the track through spring woodland. The sun dappled the new leaves on the trees and the earth hummed with warmth. The ground was hard, pitted with the tracks of boar and the pungent scent of the wild pigs hung in the air. We headed down a small hill to the river which rushed down from the ancient volcanic hills. The water was cold and clear. On the other side of a small island in the middle of the river was a perfect blue pool overhung by trees. Throwing any caution to the wind we stripped off and jumped in, gasping for breath in the icy water before diving under a small waterfall. It was an enchanted way to spend our first morning in Tuscany.
It was Claus Thottrup, our host who recommended this secret pool. Claus and his wife Jeanette own Borgo Santo Pietro, the 13th century villa where we were staying.
He had mentioned that he and his family had discovered the pool and, within minutes of us showing an interest, a bag was produced with bottles of water and two towels and Claus was leaning over the villa wall, enthusiastically gesticulating towards the woods in the valley. This is the Borgo Santo Pietro way, friendly and welcoming with a truly personal service.
Borgo Santo Pietro lies in the south-west of Tuscany, half an hour from Siena. The villa, with eight guest bedrooms, has recently opened as a luxury retreat but the building itself is steeped in history. It was a spa for travelling pilgrims in 1227 – the famous chapel of San Galgano, built in 1185, lies just over the road – and had been used as a church and a working farm, but when the Thottrups bought it in 2001, the building had lain derelict for 20 years.
Claus and Jeanette used Italian insiders to find the site and the brief was simple: steer clear of Chiantishire and find an unattached old farm house with grounds. They couldn’t have found a more perfect setting.
The approach to Borgo Santo Pietro is flat, allowing the Thottrups to landscape the gardens they’ve always dreamt of, but at the back of the building the land falls away providing an uninterrupted view across the wild Tuscan landscape of the Valle Serena.
The opening of Borgo Santo Pietro is the culmination of a dream for the Thottrups. An engaging Danish couple, currently based in London’s Queen’s Park, they have had a long love affair with Italy. When they bought the villa, they planned to make it their permanent home but when the size of the property and the prospect of rural isolation became overwhelming, they redirected their energies into creating the perfect boutique hotel.
It is hard to imagine that Borgo Santo Pietro was once a ruin surrounded by 13 acres of wasteland. But Claus and Jeanette are born developers with a wealth of experience between them. Claus builds homes for the super-rich in London’s smart postcodes and Jeanette has a background in interior design and fashion. They are complete perfectionists and coupled with an enormous energy that has transformed this ancient villa.
From the start they wanted to create something different. Tuscany is full of overpriced, old-fashioned hotels or more homely affairs offering the authentic rustic experience complete with damp rooms and dripping showers. Claus and Jeanette wanted to create something that offered a totally luxurious experience without any stuffiness. Their model was the grand English estates of years gone by, opulent but comfortable with superb, personal service. Claus and Jeanette did their homework, there doesn’t appear to be a hotel or restaurant of note that they haven’t visited but it would be fair to say that Borgo Santo Pietro draws heavily on the likes of Babington House, which created the blueprint for combining high-end luxury with breezy informality.
Whilst the exterior of Borgo Santo Pietro is traditionally Tuscan, the interior draws on influences from Italy to the Provence and English country house-style. Everything has been carefully sourced by the Thottrups themselves who have seemingly visited the world over, sourcing individual and beautiful items. The rooms are stuffed with antiques, from baths to chaise longues, desks and chairs. When we sat down to eat on our first night, the silver under-platters were antiques from the Italian navy, the bowls were bought in India and the cutlery came from a Parisian flea market. Every item at Borgo Santo Pietro, every detail, has its own story. All the walls feature handpainted designs, even the dining room floor has a handpainted design that replicates a fresco from San Galgano.
On entering the front door of Borgo Santo Pietro you enter a large, faintly baronial, hall. But natural light shines through a strikingly modern window which fills an entire wall on the marble stairs. The effect is stunning, and it is this successful combining of the old and the new that is Borgo Santo Pietro’s unique selling point. Throughout the building, faithful old-world restoration has been coupled with state-of-the-art gadgetry and design to provide the utmost in comfort. The rooms have lighting and heat all controlled by a computer panel, (the floors will cool or warm according to the room temperature), LCD televisions are hidden unobtrusively behind oil paintings and his and hers iPods (pre-loaded with suitable music) greet you on arrival in your room.
The food at Borgo Santo Pietro is fantastic. Again, Claus and Jeanette went in pursuit of perfection, carefully planning every aspect of the food and drink available. Their aim is that the surrounding land will supply most of the food for the kitchens – when we visited, a gardener had flown in from the south of France with her designs for a kitchen garden. The Thottrups didn’t want to repeat the wonderful Tuscan fare widely available but aimed to create menus with an lighter, international take on Italian food. Again, they went shopping for the best, netting Tomas, who recently won Danish chef of the year to come and work for them.
Breakfast at Borgo Santo Pietro is totally informal. Guests can wander down into the huge stone-flagged kitchen where Tomas or another chef waits to take your order. It’s not often one gets a chef of such calibre to whip you up some scrambled eggs. Cesar, the head waiter is more like a personal butler, quickly remembering how you like your tea and coffee and waiting attentively for anything you might need. Lunches are more rustic and Italian. We sat on the terrace staring at the hills eating the best antipasto I’ve ever had. Ham from the rare breed Cinta Sinese pig coupled with mouth-watering bruscetta followed by langoustines with tomato and garlic on linguine. Every mouthful of food was bursting with flavour.
Dinners at Borgo Santo Pietro are much grander affairs. Tomas will cook à la carte or you can choose the tasting menu – a seven course extravaganza complete with different wines for each course. Both Claus and Cesar are wine buffs and the villa boasts an impressive 10,000 bottle cellar. We tried both menus and the cooking was simply superb.
It is hard to overstate the joy of Borgo Santo Pietro. To stay there is to feel you are staying amongst friends. For Claus and Jeanette it has never been a hard-nosed commercial venture but rather a very personal project, their dream home that had to please them before they would throw the doors open to guests. I am just honoured that I was one of the first and urge you to follow in my footsteps.
Double rooms from €335
Relais Borgo Santo Pietro, Loc. Palazetto
53012 Chiusdino Sl, +39 0577 75 1222
www.borgosantopietro.com