Lazio, Rieti, Poggio Mirteto, Italy

This stunning mansion, built on the site of a villa said to have belonged to the emperor Diocletian, is a wonderful retreat just 50 minutes away from Rome. The Property is adjacent to a Renaissance castle that slowly grew over the ancient villa; its gardens are the living history of this storied place. Now adjacent, the estate once formed part of the castle in a village that began to flourish in Medieval and Renaissance times. The outline of this magnificent house is depicted in a 1603 painting by Caravaggio, ”The Sacrifice of Isaac,” now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. This charming mansion overlooks a magnificent formal park, a terraced (ancient Roman) garden all’Italiana- with views of the Medieval/Renaissance castle from windows and porch.The proper name of this property really should be “A Journey in Time”, as the charm of history surrounds it: from Emperor Diocletian’s foundations to the still-ongoing Medieval traditions honoring patron saints Sebastian and Peter, to the magnificent tribute of Caravaggio.This four-bedroom main property is an ancient, historical retreat with the charm of centuries; at 450-metre altitude, it provides a fresh retreat just 50 minutes from Rome. The Baroque construction yields to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries; its interiors are grand and create spaces where antique and modern meet, in an interior décor conceived by its current owners, an international art historian and an architect who have devoted their time to highlighting the potential of this magical place. Antiques live side-by-side with contemporary art and design pieces in the house.The Property consists of a ground floor, a first floor, a courtyard, and a secret garden plus surroundings. The Villa looks over the Farfa valley nestled on the verdant slopes of Monte Acuziano, with the skyline of Rome, and particularly clear days, St. Peter’s dome, visible on the horizon.This area was much loved by ancient Romans, who constructed villas and fiefdoms here, for leisure as much as the golden olive oil that the poet Horace referred to. On the ground floor we can find a foyer and a study, both connected to two spacious living rooms with a fireplace and a full panoramic window-wall, and three bathrooms. The foyer gives access to a frescoed vaulted high-ceilinged study, a drawing room and a spacious double living room, all leading directly to the porch. A fully equipped kitchen serves both the dining room and the breakfast room. Behind the kitchen more rooms can be found: a laundry and more rooms for the housekeepers, staff lodging, and storage rooms.The first floor can be accessed by two separate staircases and entails 4 bedrooms ( sleeps 7), 3 of which have en suite bathrooms for a grand total of ca. 400 sq meters.The Secret Roman-era terraced garden, 1000 sq. meters circa, is a small jewel of botanical architecture: an intriguing maze and hedges of roses, hydrangea, pomegranates, oranges, mandarin trees, limes, boxwood, papyrus and cactuses. What once was a Renaissance garden still features centuries-old oaks, and flowers, with a monumental 400-year-old yew (one of Lazio’s registered trees), acanthus meadows, nineteenth century palm trees, and walls built in the seventeeth century to contain the embankment.Two beautiful dépendances, one, an “artist studio” (40 m x 4,35 m) in the Secret Garden plus a tiny châlet in the park complete this property, and are ideal to become a family buen retiro or a charming boutique hotel. The property is the perfect spot for an artist, painter, musician, or poet, inspired by nature and the art and history of a truly extraordinary location.