ITALIAN RHAPSODY

A thoughtful renovation full of expression has revealed the beauty of this Tuscan farmhouse

- JO LEEVERS

When Samantha and Jack Hooper bought this Italian farmhouse, they had to tune into a different pace of life. ‘We realised from the start that renovating and decorating our home would need to happen gradually,’ says Samantha. Fittingly, they discovered the Tuscan village where the house is on a gentle-paced cycling holiday 15 years ago. ‘That was the start of a dream that, one day, we would buy a property here.’

Samantha and Jack and their now grown-up children – Eve, Laura and James – were based in Melbourne, Australia, at the time so house-hunting was inevitably a drawn-out process. ‘We fitted viewings into annual holidays here or if Jack was on a business trip in Europe he would tack one on to a weekend visit,’ Samantha explains.

Their patience paid off when they viewed this casa colonica, a traditional Tuscan farmhouse with a core that dates from the 16th century. Historically, its layout would have been divided into upstairs living areas for the family, while the ground floor would have been inhabited by stabled farm animals. The farmhouse had been converted 50 years earlier by its previous owners so the downstairs was habitable, but the modernisations had both pros and cons. ‘The large French windows meant the living spaces felt flooded with light and linked with the outside, but some of the materials used were not in keeping with the house’s character.’ For example, there was a mishmash of original terracotta tiles and poorer quality new versions, and concrete had been used to cover some of the walls.