Under The Tuscan Sun

On the edge of Lucca sits a dream family home from which to explore Tuscany’s picturesque towns and other wonders

- Helena Lee

As I write this, the idea of any holiday abroad seems like the ultimate in unachievable luxury. Yet, I took this break shortly after giving birth to Margot, the second of my two girls, so the concept of social distancing and scrupulous hygiene (“Have you washed your hands?”, “Try not to visit if you are spluttering with cold.”) was not unfamiliar, nor were we overly ambitious in our immediate holiday plans. Close friends were getting married in Tuscany that summer, so after the festivities, together with the happy couple, their son and another family, we decided to stay on in a villa near Lucca—a walled city that held just enough culture to lure us for short and frequent trips, but wasn’t teeming with a multitude of attractions we felt obliged to see.

And so 11 of us descended on Villa Novedieci, a CV Villas property. The warm-pink house sits within its own grounds as part of the estate of the grander 16th-century Villa Donati, which had been built as a hunting lodge and summer house for well-to-do Lucchese escaping from the city, as a year-round source of game, olive oil and wine. Owned by Elizabeth Arden’s family after World War II, the estate was taken over in 2001 by English buyers, who converted Novedieci into a 10-bedroom property complete with an outdoor swimming pool, a gym, a canopied terrace and access to a tennis court.