Villa Bossi Pucci, which takes its name from the last family to have owned the property over four generations, will become the focal point of a Private Residence Club which has been created by converting its historic farm buildings into luxurious new holiday homes.
They are set in 1.6 hectares of landscaped gardens surrounded by vineyards, olive groves and cypress trees and the names of the buildings indicate their original uses. Il Casale was the farmer’s home, the harvest was stored in Il Fienile and La Toretta was the place where fruits and tomatoes were dried. Nearby is La Tinaia, where grapes were fermented and stored, close to the wine store, La Cantina, and Il Frantoio which housed the olive press.
The new clubhouse facilities are expected to include a coffee lounge, library, spa and a bar with an outside terrace. Guest suites for use by owners’ visitors are among other plans for the villa. They include the creation of secure private cantinas for the storage of individual owners’ wines alongside the ancient four metre high, 5,000 litre capacity wine barrels currently occupying part of the cellar.
Located on the edge of the rural village of Montagnana, 24 km south west of Florence in the Chianti wine region, the holiday homes are being sold in a way which is said to offer the best value lifestyle option for people who cannot justify the cost of purchasing and maintaining a holiday home overseas when, in reality, they will use it for only a few weeks each year. It also means that they do not face the problems of maintaining a property abroad.
The Private Residence Club concept, pioneered in Europe by Peter Kempf of Peter Kempf International which is handling sales at Villa Bossi Pucci, is one of the fastest growing sectors of the luxury holiday home industry. It enables purchasers to buy a one tenth interest in a particular residence and then to have virtually unlimited use of the property, or others within the same size category.
'For buyers this is a much better deal than schemes in which an owner's use of the property is limited to a fixed number of days each year or timeshare which may not include ownership in bricks and mortar,’ said Kempf.
‘Members of a Private Residence Club are joint owners of the actual building and yet have access to all the residences in their category. Like the members of an equity golf country club wishing to book tee times, their use of the accommodation is limited only by the club’s reservation policies,’ he added.
Current prices of a one tenth interest range from €50,000 for a one bedroom residence and €86,000 for a two bedroom residence to €100,000 for a three bedroom residence. Purchasers can buy more than one interest if they wish and one buyer has already done so.
Villa Bossi Pucci is within easy reach of Florence, accessible by local buses which run to the city. Other easily accessible towns and cities include San Gimignano (30 km), Vinci (35 km), Siena (50 km) and Pisa (60 km). Beaches on Italy’s west and east coasts are within a one-hour drive.
There are regular flights from UK airports to Florence and Pisa. Florence Airport is 25 minutes by road from Villa Bossi Pucci and Pisa Airport is a one-hour drive Villa Bossi Pucci is a member of Interval International, the vacation exchange network, so property owners can swap their holidays in Tuscany for stays in comparable Premier Boutique Resorts in beach, ski, golf and urban locations around the world.
