About Us
About Us
Since 1992 our family, with love and dedication, worked to bring back to the ancient splendor this small piece of paradise of noble origins. The farm and the small farmhouse, exclusively family run, represent what we are and our core values: simplicity, hospitality, passion and tradition.
During all the stay we will be at your disposal, allowing you to relax at the most and to ensure that you do not feel a customer but a member of our family.
The Property
The farm is located on a hill top of Chianti, 485 meters above the sea level, and with its 42 hectares enjoys a strategic location in the heart of Tuscany, halfway between Florence and Siena. Surrounded by vineyards, olive groves, orchards, secular oaks and cypresses pointing to a blue sky, it is the perfect place to enjoy the relaxing nature and the quietness of the surrounding woods, populated by a rich fauna typical of the area. At the same time, thanks to its location, is the ideal starting point to visit art cities such as Florence, Siena, Lucca, San Gimignano, Volterra, Pisa and medieval villages among the most beautiful in Italy.
The property consists of the Villa and the Old Barn, which recently have been restored respecting the typical Tuscan style and the original structure. The style is extremely welcoming but at the same time refined, with great attention to detail. It integrates well with the landscape, producing a charming effect for our guests: stone walls, exposed wooden beams, floors in hand made terracotta tiles, wrought iron beds, antique furniture, all in the best Tuscany tradition.
History
The Old Barn, already rebuilt in 1765, and the Villa, that initially had the function of oil mill and house, are located on one of the ancient Roman roads that connected Florence to the Val d'Elsa and the Francigena road, for this reason the farm has always been a landmark in the history for travelers and workers on their way to the fields.
But certainly the most important historical fact is the connection between Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda, and San Silvestro.
According to the painter and art historian Giorgio Vasari, the woman who was the inspiration for the famous portrait of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci was the noble Florentine Lisa Gherardini. Of her life little is known, but is supposed to have been her husband Francesco Bartolomeo del Giocondo who commissioned the famous portrait which is now kept at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Thanks to the studies made by Giuseppe Pallanti in his book “Monna Lisa mulier ingenua”, it was possible to discover that the farm of San Silvestro was owned by the famous family of Florentine nobility of Gherardini and that the historical connection with Mona Lisa took place in 1495, when the property was given as dowry by Anton Maria di Noldo Gherardini to his daughter Lisa for her wedding with Francesco Bartolomeo del Giocondo.