In and around the watermill

Our beautiful and historic watermill stands beside the River Rosaro in the small village of Posara. Peaceful and secluded, yet part of the village, the mill is just a mile or so from the walled medieval town of Fivizzano with its cafés, restaurants and shops. This is the heart of Lunigiana, in the North-west of Tuscany, a truly unspoilt part of Italy.

Set in a gentle valley with mountain peaks in the background, the mill is a peaceful spot, surrounded by the National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Appennines and The Regional Pak of the Apuan Alps, home of the marble mountains of Carrara.

The Watermill is a complex of elegant and historic Tuscan buildings, around a sunny courtyard with an adjoining vine verandah, rose pergola and sun-filled walled garden. More gardens lead to walks along the river and the sun-dappled millstream.

We have lovingly restored the historic buildings and created eight beautiful bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, plus two self-contained apartment suites, each with a double bedroom, bathroom and sitting room, ideal for couple or friends sharing. The bright and airy rooms are well decorated and tastefully furnished. Many contain original artworks and all enjoy lovely views of the river, the gardens or the mountains.

Our graceful communal Sitting Room, with its gallery of paintings by our inspiring tutors, is ideal for post-prandial conversation and digestivi. Our courtyard dining room is the unique setting for leisurely breakfasts and mouth-watering evening meals. There is also a communal kitchen, with chilled water and facilities for personal tea-/coffee-making. There is Wi-Fi in the communal sitting room.

Around the mill there's a walled garden, a vine verandah, a winding rose pergola, and riverside gardens, with tables, chairs and sun-loungers, providing delightful spots for sun-kissed or shady relaxation and contemplation. Then there are further secluded private gardens where you can stroll beside the millstream for about a quarter of a mile. The riverside gardens feature the old olive press reservoir (now filled with chilly water from the mountains, in which you can plunge or just dangle your toes). There's also a terrace overlooking the river and a bamboozery through which you can walk.

The Mill

The mill is a unique piece of 'industrial archaeology'. Around the courtyard and behind the three-storey Tuscan houses there are two ancient watermills, one built in the 17th century and the other in the 19th. Their millstones and workings are still intact and we are slowly restoring them. Waterpower was used not only for producing wheat, maize and chestnut flour, but also for crushing and squeezing olives for their oil. The Gardens

The large walled garden has a vine verandah and rose pergola. For meals in the sunshine there are millstone tables, and a barbecue. The riverside gardens feature the old olive press reservoir (now filled with chilly water from the mountains, in which you can plunge or just dangle your toes). There's also a terrace overlooking the river and a bamboozery through which you can walk.

Posara

Posara is a small, friendly village, with ancient houses and narrow alleyways, surrounded by vineyards and fields of maize and sunflowers.

The natives are friendly and will always talk to you when you make your evening passeggiata, perhaps to view the ancient packhorse bridge to another mill downstream.

Fivizzano

Fivizzano is a walled Medieval market town, complete with castle (just to the North) and a Medici fountain in the main piazza. There are lots of shops, both a supermarket and small shops selling local produce, notably ham, salami, cheese and wine.

There are also plenty of cafés, ice-cream parlours, restaurants and pizzerias. You can hire a tennis court in Fivizzano and there is a big outdoor swimming pool at Cormezzano, on the road towards Aulla. Above the town, the scenery becomes spectacular, with beautiful views over the mountains, olive groves and chestnut forests.

Tuscany

Despite its rural quiet, Posara is only 40 minutes' drive to the coast and the beach resorts in the Gulf of the Poets (Shelley and Byron swam here) and even less to the autostrada to Pisa, Lucca and Florence. At Pontremoli there's a small, but fascinating, museum of enigmatic Etruscan statues.

A train from nearby Aulla will take you through the hills to Lucca, skirting the Regional Park of the Alpi Apuane. From Aulla you can take another train to the Cinque Terre, five fishing villages in spectacular settings. A walk from Monterosso to Vernazza along the cliff top path is an unforgettable experience.

C Painting holidays in Tuscany, Italy

Our relaxing, inspiring and fun-filled painting courses with internationally renowned tutors are designed to help both experienced painters and beginners to release their talent and most of all, enjoy their painting. We offer courses in watercolours, oils, pastels, acrylics and other media.

For centuries artists have drawn their inspiration from the Tuscan landscape and you couldn't find a better place than the watermill to enjoy your painting holiday and improve your skills. The courses run from Saturday to Saturday. We usually spend Sunday painting in the Watermill gardens or beside the river, or in the light and airy Watermill studio, overlooking the gardens and mountains on one side and the river on the other. We take you on painting trips to an ancient castle and village, to market day in a nearby walled Medieval town, to a secluded cloistered convent and to a thousand-year old hilltop village with craggy mountain views...... And there’s a whole day (non-painting) excursion by train to the walled city of Lucca or to the fishing villages of the Cinque Terre. (You can see full details by visiting our Typical Itinerary Page )

For more information, please select from the menus above. We would love you to join us.

Lois and Bill Breckon ainting holidays – where you stay and what it costs

The Watermill is a complex of elegant and historic Tuscan buildings, surrounding a sunny courtyard with an adjoining vine verandah, rose pergola and sun-filled walled garden. More gardens lead to walks along the river and the sun-dappled millstream. We are surrounded by two environmentally protected areas: the National Park of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and the Regional Park of the Apuan Alps. The air and the water are pure and unpolluted, and the area abounds in wildlife. It is all yours to explore.

We are increasingly environmentally aware and we have now incorporated an array of photovoltaic panels in our south-facing roof structures, to generate ‘green’ electricity. We have produced more than 14,000 kWh of electricity in the last year and saved more than 10 tonnes of CO2 emissions. We have installed air-conditioning units to cool/heat all our bedrooms and public rooms including the communl dining room, communal sitting-room and the studio, using the ‘green’ electricity generated by our photovoltaic panels. As part of our war on plastic, we loan our guests individual stainless-steel vacuum flasks for the week, instead of using individual plastic water bottles. The vacuum flasks (which are sterilised at the end of each course) can be filled with filtered water from our new water-dispensing machine in the Communal Kitchen. You can have water at ambient temperature, chilled still water or chilled fizzy water! There is an ice-making machine too, if you like your water even colder (and for your evening cocktails and gins and tonics!)

We have tried to be environmentally conscious in our restoration building projects, too, seeking where possible to incorporate modern energy-saving details, from insulated roofs to double-glazed windows.

We have created fresh, bright and airy bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, comfy beds and original artwork on the walls. Our apartment suites, with their own sitting rooms and bathrooms, are ideal for couples or friends sharing.

Our graceful communal Sitting Room, with its gallery of paintings by our inspiring tutors, is ideal for post-prandial conversation and digestivi. Our courtyard Dining Room is the unique setting for leisurely breakfasts and mouth-watering evening meals. There is also a Communal Kitchen, with facilities for personal tea-/coffee-making, as well as the water-dispensing machine and an ice maker.

There is Wi-Fi in the communal sitting room.

EVERYTHING is included in the cost of your holiday:

 all tuition fees and accommodation  local transportation (including transfers to and from Pisa airport; including our mid- week excursion by train to a Tuscan beauty spot or historic town).  all meals including breakfast, gourmet picnics on location, pre-dinner aperitifs, dinner at the mill or at small and friendly local restaurants with regional Italian dishes and wines.

All you have to do is to get to Pisa and we do the rest! What it costs

We offer nine beautiful bedrooms with their own en suite bathrooms, plus two self- contained apartment suites, ideal for couples.

Our policy is not to discriminate against people coming on their own by charging a vast supplement for single rooms. So, if you are coming by yourself, you will always have your own individual bedroom. We would, however, like friends to share if it is at all possible and there will be a saving if you do so. And if you share with a non-participating partner, he or she will enjoy a generous discount of £GBP 250 for the painting holiday week.

The following are the bedrooms and suites on offer, and their all-inclusive price (in £GBP, English pounds) for the week-long painting courses: