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Italian Elegance at La Foce

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Italian Elegance at La Foce ITALIAN ELEGANCE AT LA FOCE American born Iris Origo saw Italy through a stage of incredible change, from Savoy monarchy through Mussolini and the Second World War, from the centuries-old peasant farming system to Italy’s much belated Industrialization. She left a collection of literature, a personal account of German occupation and thrilling escape during wartime, a legacy of conscientious farming in a land hard to conquer, and a beautiful, manicured estate in the picturesque Val d’Orcia. Her house, LA FOCE sits on one of the most comely and typically Tuscan roads in the area, its winding grade marked by even cypresses. Finocchieto’s unique relationship with Iris’s daughter and owner, Benedetta affords guests uncommon access to the estate, which usually only opens its gardens to tours on Wednesday. Join Benedetta for a tour of the house and grounds, culminating in an elegant lunch and discussion. This is an opportunity to learn about an enormously intriguing individual, but also her circle of expatriates which included Bernard Berenson and Edith Wharton among others, and about the evolution of Tuscany as we know it today. “It will, I think, be obvious that I love Italy and its people. But I have become chary of generalisations about countries and nations; I believe in individuals, and in the relationship of individuals to one another. When I look back upon these years of tension and expectation, of destruction and sorrow, it is individual acts of kindness, courage or faith that illuminate them; it is them that I trust. I remember a British prisoner of war in the Val d’Orcia helping - 107 - the peasant’s wife to draw water from the well, her mouth, went on to accomplish great things. with a ragged, beaming small child at his heels. In Origo’s case, she managed to add light I remember the peasant’s wife mending his and color to everything she touched, leaving socks, knitting, him a sweater, and baking her for posterity a body of work – biography, best cake for him, in tears, on the day of his autobiography and literary criticism – that has departure. become recognized as a model of its kind.” ~ D AV id R . G O di N E , P UBL I SH er “These – the shared, simple acts of everyday I ri S O ri GO : M A R CH E SA O F V AL D ’O R C I A life – are the realities on which international understanding can be built. In these, and in the A B I OG R A P HY BY C A R OL I N E M OO re H E A D realisation that has come to many thousands, that people of other nations are, after all, just On Wednesday La Foce’s gardens are open to the public with like themselves, we may, perhaps, place our guided tours leaving on the hour from 3—6 p.m. in the summer, at hopes.” 3 only from October to March. Speak with Borgo staff to organize a tour. ~ I ri S O ri GO W A R I N V AL D ’ O R C I A Getting to La Foce New York-born Origo’s early years, post the loss of her father, were The 30 to 45 minute drive to La Foce is one of the prettiest in the spent traversing the world with her mother before establishing a province. Start by traveling south on the S2 out of Buonconvento. base at the Villa Medici in Fiesole, outside of Florence. There, she After passing the town of San Quirico but before reaching the town grew up among her mother’s circle of wealthy English expatriates. of Bagno Vignoni, turn left in the direction of Chianciano Terme. In the 1920s she married Italian Antonio Origo and escaped to a After 13.5 km, turn left (still in the direction of Chianciano) for La very different world of their choosing, a dilapidated farm on a vast Foce and follow the signs (~ 6 km). When you are almost there, landholding south of Siena. There, they transformed the dry valley the road begins a winding uphill climb amid stately cypresses. To into a working estate with rebuilt farmhouses and a school. They your left is the iconic Tuscan road made famous by the film, the also rebuilt the villa at La Foce and its gardens. During World War English Patient. As you reach the top of the hill, La Foce is on your II, they took the side of the Allies, heroically sheltering POWs in right. Continue past the house and park in the large lot where signs addition to looking after their own community. Origo’s War in the indicate. Val d’Orcia is one of the great nonfictional works on the war in Italy. Nonpolitical and told from the limited perspective of her location, it is an account of the war’s effects on everyday life in rural Italy. Touring The gardens are the design of CECIL PINSENT, one of Tuscany’s “Iris Origo was one of those rare characters great twentieth-century landscape architects. He got his start who, despite being born with a platinum spook in working for Bernard Berenson at Villa I Tatti, now Harvard’s center - 108 - - 109 - for Renaissance studies, which led to projects at the Villa Medici and Villa La Foce. In the middle of what can be a very dry landscape, the dense, shadowy greens of La Foce’s gardens are quite a surprise. Pinsent’s geometric box hedges, a nod to traditional Italian formal gardens, define a space that is manicured to the last detail and lush in all seasons. The rose garden contributes splashes of bright color. In spring, the pergola overflows with purple wisteria. Walking down the pergola leads to one of Tuscany’s best views, that of the winding road below in the Val d’Orcia. The three story villa was originally built as a tavern for travelers in 1498, but became the core of an estate maintained by Siena’s Santa Maria della Scala hospital until the Origos purchased it in 1924. The dining room is a standout, its high ceiling ringed by a second-tier gallery and its walls frescoed with scenes of the beautiful landscape surrounding. Possible reading includes anything from Origo’s collection of works, including LIGHT AND SHADOWS, THE MERCHANT OF PRATO, and WAR IN THE VAL D’ORCIA, Caroline Moorehead’s biography, or LA FOCE: GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE IN TUSCANY by Benedetta, among others. Timing in Brief • 45 minute drive to La Foce • 1—2 hours exploration • 45 minutes return to Borgo • Approximately 3.5 hours - 110 -.
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