Lucciola Bella

The farmhouse is situated within the ‘Lucciola Bella’ Nature Riserve, south west of Pienza in a small corner of the typical landscape of the crete senesi. In fact the striking feature of the nature reserve is this unusual landscape of the ‘calanchi’ and ‘biancane’ formed during the last Ice Age. These particular formations are host to important but rare plants and wildlife especially birds. The farmhouse has a long history, it was 1924 when the Marquess Origo bought the farm at ‘La Foce’ along with numerous hectares of land. It was a time when the Val d’Orcia was inhospitable with no forms of vegetation. The Marquess together with his wife undertook an enormous land improvement programme in the area and amongst other things they also built several farmhouses (Lucciola Bella is one ), giving life to a new political and social era. The famous road with its cypress trees which leads to the farmhouse was created by the architect Cecil Pinsent who also designed the villa and the gardens at ‘La Foce’.