Countryside Classic. Tuscany.

A Countryside Classic is the villa most people picture when they say they want a villa in Tuscany. Stone walls, terracotta floors, dark beams overhead, a pergola heavy with wisteria, a long table for twelve under it. A pool in the right place, usually below the house, with the view behind it. Cypresses lining the access road. Olives in three directions.

We are unsentimental about the cliché because the cliché is the thing. A Tuscany classic done well, in the right hands, on the right land, with proper service, is one of the most pleasing residences anywhere in Europe and the form survives because it works. The category therefore selects ruthlessly: the worst Tuscany villa in any town is also a country-house cliché, and so is the best.

What separates the houses we accept into the category is the seriousness of the rest of the property. The kitchen is large enough that a chef on rotation can cook for twelve. The bedroom count is genuinely private, we will not include a house that turns a passageway into a bedroom for an extra guest. The gardens are tended weekly. The owner is reachable and the manager is on the property within an hour.

Countryside Classic villas span the largest sleeps range of any category, from intimate eight-bedded houses to twenty-bed family compounds, and they sit across all eight sub-regions. They are the best entry point for first-time renters in Tuscany.

Tell us the dates, the size of your party and whether the category fits. If we have a house that holds up, we will say so directly; if we do not, we will tell you that too. Replies come from the founders, usually within a working day.