Italy Cinema Giant, Franco Cristaldi’s Villa Up For Sale (EXCLUSIVE)

SELLER: Cristaldi Family REAL ESTATE AGENCY: Columbus International at Keller Williams NYC LOCATION: Between Volterra and () PRICE: Euros 5,900,000 (USD 6,900,000) SIZE: 30,903 Square Feet, 22+ bedrooms GALLERY: 9 Images attached

NOTES: Franco Cristaldi, a three-time Oscar winner, awarded for Best Foreign Film with 's and 's , became the owner of Villa di Ulignano in 1967, purchasing it from the State at a public auction after decades of abandon. Now, more than 25 years later after his death, this cinematic hamlet of houses, distributed on approximately 4 acres of land, has popped up for sale with an asking price of $6,960,000 million.

Perched atop the hill of Ulignano, the property is an outstanding 17th century villa surrounded by a magnificent garden with centuries-old trees. The manor home is part of a 17-acre property between Volterra, the closest town, and San Gimignano, at the heart of the triangle composed of , Florence and Pisa. The spirit of the place enchanted one of Italy's greatest artists of the 20th century. While traveling through these hills on a quest to find locations for his latest movie, Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, , best known for his films Ossessione, Senso, Rocco and His Brothers, The Leopard and Death in Venice, came across the Villa di Ulignano and fell in love with it.

One of the founding fathers of the Italian Neorealist movement, Visconti chose Villa di Ulignano for his movie Sandra, with and Jean Sorel, all shot in Volterra, winner of the Golden Lion at the 30th International Film Festival of Venice. Claudia Cardinale eventually married Franco Cristaldi and was in part involved with decorating the villa. The Italian cinema was in its Golden Era. These were the years of Federico Fellini’s art films, of the social and political protest films of , of the timeless Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone. And it is at this moment in time that a new page in the history of the villa was turned.

The Villa di Ulignano had become a place where great minds came to think, breathe and make films in an environment of carefree and creative harmony; among them, Michelangelo Antonioni’s muse, the iconic Italian actress Monica Vitti, and the Academy Award-winning Scottish actor, Sean Connery. In 1969, Cristaldi mounted the first Italo-Soviet co-production to make Mikhail Kalatozov’s Krasnaya Palatka (The Red Tent), starring Sean Connery, before also producing Louis Malle’s Lacombe Lucien. La Dolce Vita – the spirit and the entourage - had come to Volterra.

Today Villa di Ulignano, owned by the Cristaldi Family, continues to build its history. And it’s ready to pass its traditions on to a new owner. Who is ready to step into the Golden Age of Italian Cinema?

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