Historic Estate01
Dimora Ghirlandaio EstateDimora Ghirlandaio · 37 guests · 20 bedrooms
From €91,000 / week
Fully staffed · Private chef
A private Renaissance hamlet taken whole: six independent houses around a formal garden, for up to 37 guests.
TuscanyVilla estate
Dimora Ghirlandaio, Tuscany
An estate in the hills of Impruneta near Florence, with several villas and shared estate facilities.
1 villa at Dimora Ghirlandaio in our collection, sleeping 37 guests; every one has a private pool. A private chef can be arranged at every villa.
See the 1 villa1 villa in the collection1 article in the journal
Villas in Dimora Ghirlandaio
The whole collection1 villas
On Dimora Ghirlandaio
Dimora Ghirlandaio,
from Smaranda.
Dimora Ghirlandaio is our closest estate to Florence: a cluster of villas around the country residence the Ghirlandaio painters kept five centuries ago, in the hills by Impruneta, twenty-odd minutes south of the city walls. Domenico Ghirlandaio taught the young Michelangelo in his workshop; that the family's country seat survives as a place you can sleep is the kind of fact this estate wears lightly.
The position is the point. Impruneta sits on the first ridge of the Chianti hills, so the estate looks and lives like wine country, cypress lanes, olive terraces, the famous local terracotta underfoot, while Florence's museums are a morning decision rather than an expedition. Greve in Chianti, the first of the serious wine towns, is twenty-five minutes south. No other base in the collection balances city and country so evenly.
Impruneta and Its Terracotta
Impruneta's cotto has floored Tuscan buildings since Brunelleschi used it on the Duomo's dome, and the kilns still fire. The town keeps a real weekly life around the Basilica of Santa Maria, an easy first outing from the estate, and the terracotta workshops welcome visitors who call ahead, which we do. In late September the Festa dell'Uva turns the main square into the Chianti's most cheerful harvest festival.
Florence Without Staying in Florence
The estate's guests do Florence the civilised way: in by mid-morning after the tour groups have queued, two hours for one thing done properly, the Uffizi or the Bargello rather than both, lunch across the Arno among the Oltrarno workshops, and home to the pool by four. Twenty-five minutes each way makes a second or third city morning easy, which is the real luxury: Florence in doses, never Florence fatigue. For timing the city days, Florence weather month by month is the guide.
When to come
April to June and September to October, when city mornings and pool afternoons both work. The Festa dell'Uva makes late September special; high summer is for the pool, with Florence kept to early mornings.
Towns worth knowing
- Impruneta
- The estate's town: the Basilica, the terracotta kilns, a real Saturday market.
- Greve in Chianti
- The first of the wine towns, twenty-five minutes south; start the Chianti Classico day here.
- San Casciano in Val di Pesa
- Machiavelli wrote The Prince in exile just outside it; good osterie, few tourists.
- Florence
- Twenty-odd minutes north. Go in doses: one museum, one lunch, home by four.
Best for
- Splitting a week evenly between Florence and wine country
- First trips to Tuscany that want both city and pool
- Renaissance history sleeping where it happened
- Chianti Classico days without a Chianti Classico drive home
Practicalities
Florence is twenty to twenty-five minutes by car; guests headed for the centre park at Piazzale Michelangelo or take a driver and skip the ZTL entirely. Greve and the Chianti Classico wine road begin twenty-five minutes south.
Frequently asked
- How many villas do you have at Dimora Ghirlandaio?
- 1: Dimora Ghirlandaio Estate (sleeps 37).
- Which villas at Dimora Ghirlandaio have a private pool?
- 1 of 1: Dimora Ghirlandaio Estate (Outdoor pool overlooking Florence and the countryside — yours alone…). Tell us your dates and we will confirm which are free.
- When are the pools open at Dimora Ghirlandaio?
- Most villa pools in Tuscany open from May to late September; heated pools usually extend the season from April into October. Opening dates are set by each villa. In high season villas rent Saturday to Saturday.
- Which villas at Dimora Ghirlandaio suit large groups?
- 1 sleep 12 or more: Dimora Ghirlandaio Estate (sleeps 37, 20 bedrooms). For a celebration, ask about seated dining for the whole group and whether outside guests are allowed.
- How far is Dimora Ghirlandaio from Florence?
- Twenty to twenty-five minutes by car, on the first ridge of the Chianti hills by Impruneta. City mornings and pool afternoons fit in the same day.
- What is the Ghirlandaio connection?
- The estate grew around the country residence the Ghirlandaio family of painters kept five centuries ago; Domenico Ghirlandaio trained the young Michelangelo in his Florence workshop.
- Is the estate in Chianti?
- On its northern edge. Impruneta sits on the first Chianti ridge; Greve in Chianti and the Chianti Classico wine road proper begin twenty-five minutes south.
- How many villas are on the estate?
- Six, from the intimate La Bottega and the converted lemon villa Suite La Limonaia to Villa Ghirlandaio itself. They can be taken individually or combined for larger parties.
Field notes on Dimora Ghirlandaio
The whole journal
Dimora Ghirlandaio
Florence in a Day: What to See Without the Queues
Florence as a base, a day trip, and a city to keep returning to. Where to stay, when to go, what to do once you have done the obvious. The editor's perspective on the city you will spend a week working out.
Compare nearby areas and alternative bases
Planning the week