Umbria Villa near Perugia Umbria Villa Rental "San Gregorio"

Full Description

It is said that Umbria is the centre of the world, Foligno is the centre of Umbria, and, in a certain bar in Foligno, there’s a billiard table which is the very epicentre of it all. Of course this is romantic nonsense, so why mention it? To introduce San Gregorio, which is nowhere near Foligno, but it does have a pristine, full sized Italian billiard table for your enjoyment!

A tarmac lane, lined with ancient umbrella pines, takes you to this quiet country house 15 km north of Perugia and only a few kilometres from the main road. The original roof beams overhead and the authentic doors and windows, with ingenious old catches, discreetly make the point that this house is the genuine article. There are cool terracotta tiles underfoot as you step out of bed or wander into the big farmhouse kitchen for a reviving espresso.

You enter the ground floor of the house by either the huge sitting room, with lots of inviting sofas and that billiard table, or via a well-equipped kitchen. This opens conveniently onto a splendid shady dining terrace: one of a plethora of pleasant outdoor sitting areas. There’s also a handsome double bedroom, with views across to hilltop Civitella, and a bathroom on this floor too. Outside, brick steps lead to an airy loggia on the first floor with chairs and coffee table. From here, you enter the original farmhouse kitchen with its old dining table, open fireplace and authentic atmosphere of times past (plus all the modern cook could wish for of course!). The pretty first floor sitting room has glorious views from its deep windows. Both handsomely decorated bedrooms on this floor have stylish en suite bathrooms.

A vineyard and olive trees cover much of the 2½ acre grounds, while around the house there’s a well-established garden. There’s a lovely arched barn for shady parking and even a fridge by the pool to ensure well chilled bubbly is always to hand.

Marvelous, marvelous location: pool & view (& garden furniture) perfect! House great, no complaints at all about it. Cleanliness standards excellent, abundance of towels & sheets, lots of good kitchen equipment etc.

An ‘added extra’ was the plucking of produce (by invitation I hasten to add!) from the glorious garden ...

Judith Unwin, London N1.

The arrangements worked beautifully. John kindly collected our daughter and her husband from the train, Saturday pm and had left food in the house for us, as they were without transport at that stage. The rest of us arrived on Sunday morning.

The house was clean and neat and we thoroughly enjoyed every day at San Gregorio, an idyllic setting. We thought that the house was well priced, given that three couples each had a good-sized bedroom with its own en suite bathroom.

We had Rita to cook for us twice and we greatly appreciated not having to locate a restaurant and drive home on unfamiliar rural roads after enjoying local wines. Rita was friendly and efficient and a wonderful cook yet we were left to enjoy our meal in the privacy of the family.

The ‘house book’ is a great institution. We were impressed by the efficiency of the Summer’s Leases team and will certainly recommend the agency to our friends and relations in New Zealand.

Sally Hoare, Takapuna, NZ.

Delightful house - even nicer than the photos suggested. The owner’s personality infused it without intruding and Maria and Elio were real delights.

Wonderful garden and pool.

Tom Burns, Oxford.

We had a wonderful time here - John was very welcoming and willing to help with directions and recommendations for local restaurants - not that we needed them - Rita’s cooking was fantastic.

Lisa McKibben, London W1.

Excellent location for access to all of Umbria. Lovely garden and views across the countryside. The house and garden well serviced and the pool was excellent.

David Canter, Wales.

Many thanks for the arrangements you made at short notice with Rita for her to cook for our Birthday girl last Friday at San Gregorio. The celebration capped an unforgettable week for all of us in a place I can only describe as Paradise.

Thank you to everyone at Summer’s Leases.

Ian Davis, Marlborough.

We thoroughly enjoyed our two weeks, which flew by. It was hard to drag ourselves away from the lovely pool with its stunning view over the hills! We felt spoilt by the “maid service” - Rita was delightful and her cooking (we enjoyed three meals “at home”) was delightful.

Sue Spence, Falmouth.

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