Picture this: it's a Tuesday morning in late September, the kind of morning that makes you want to cancel everything. You're standing on your upstairs terrace with a coffee, watching the mist slowly pull back from the Apennine ridgeline, and the only sound is a woodpecker somewhere in the fig tree below. That's the daily reality of owning this three-bedroom villa in the Lunigiana hills of northern Tuscany — a place most Italians know about and most foreigners haven't found yet.
That's not an accident. Lunigiana sits in the crease between Tuscany, Liguria, and Emilia-Romagna, technically within Tuscany's administrative borders but with a character entirely its own. Fewer tour buses. More castles per square kilometre than almost anywhere in Italy. Hiking trails that cut through chestnut forests older than the republic. And properties like this one — solid, well-maintained villas on quiet lanes with proper gardens and proper views — that would cost twice as much if they sat twenty kilometres further south in the Chianti.
The villa itself is 208 square metres across three levels, and it's been kept in genuinely good condition. This isn't a project. The finish is high-end throughout: marble bathrooms, solid wood and marble kitchen, beamed ceilings in the main living room. The first floor is where daily life happens — a wide entrance hall opens into a living room with a fireplace that earns its keep in November, french doors spilling out onto a covered patio where you can eat dinner outside well into October without needing a jumper. The kitchen is fully fitted and connects to the same covered patio, so cooking and outdoor living flow into each other the way they should in a Tuscan country house.
Two bedrooms on this level each have their own balcony and share access to a marble bathroom. The master suite takes up the top floor: bedroom, marble bathroom, and a private terrace that frames the hills in a way no photograph has ever quite captured. Below the main living level, the integral garage leads into a laundry room, a bathroom, and a large basement room with windows — flexible space that some owners use as a studio, a games room, or additional guest accommodation.
Then there's the pool. It sits in a private position in the garden, far enough from the house that you forget the house is there. The views from the water are the kind that stop conversations. The lawned garden runs to 650 square metres, planted with olive trees and a fig that drops fruit all through August. There's a private gated drive to the parking area and garage, which matters more than it sounds when you're arriving late from Pisa airport with luggage.
The villa sits between Bagnone and Licciana Nardi, two small towns that give this corner of Lunigiana its particular rhythm. Bagnone is medieval in the most literal sense — a castle sits above a cobbled piazza, a river cuts through the middle of town, and the stone-vaulted lanes underneath the old buildings are full of small restaurants and shops selling local cured meats, local honey, local wine. You go there on a Saturday morning and you don't leave quickly. Licciana Nardi, seven kilometres away, centres on the Piazza del Municipio and the 16th-century Malaspina castle, still connected to its baroque church by the covered bridge built so the local nobles never had to walk outside to get to Mass. In autumn, the town throws a proper Chestnut Festival — roasted chestnuts, local wine, brass bands, the whole thing. Nearby Monti has its own hilltop castle and a useful cluster of everyday amenities.
For practical needs, Aulla is 15 kilometres away with supermarkets, a train station, and access to the A15 autostrada. Lerici's sandy beaches — genuinely golden, genuinely swimmable from May through October — are 40 kilometres south. The pebble coves of the Cinque Terre are in the same direction and slightly further, still reachable for a day trip without the anguish of driving into the national park itself. Three airports serve the area: Pisa at roughly 100 kilometres, Parma and Genova each just over an hour's drive. For a second home that you want to reach on a Friday evening flight and be in by midnight, the logistics work.
The walking here deserves a proper mention. Lunigiana is cross-hatched with marked footpaths, many of them running through the same chestnut and oak forests that Medici-era travellers used when this was a major route between northern and central Italy. The mountains directly above the villa are part of the Apennine system, and on clear winter days after a frost, you can see snow on the higher ridges from the pool terrace. Spring brings wildflowers across every hillside. Summer evenings cool down enough to sleep without air conditioning, which is not something you can say about most of Tuscany in July.
Lunigiana's property market has been quietly drawing in informed international buyers over the last decade — people who want authentic Tuscany without the Chianti premiums and the tourist infrastructure. Values here are still realistic relative to the quality of life on offer, and rental demand is growing as travellers look for alternatives to over-visited areas. A well-presented pool villa in this position can generate meaningful rental income through summer and the autumn shoulder season, which helps offset ownership costs for buyers who won't be here full-time.
For international buyers, Italy's property purchase process is straightforward with proper local legal representation, and the country's flat-tax regime for new residents (the €100,000 annual substitute tax introduced in 2017) makes it genuinely attractive for those considering a longer-term move or extended stays. The area is well-served by local geometras and solicitors familiar with foreign buyers.
Key features at a glance:
- Three bedrooms, three marble bathrooms across 208 square metres
- Master suite with private terrace on upper floor
- Two additional bedrooms each with balcony access
- Living room with fireplace and beamed ceiling
- Fully fitted solid wood and marble kitchen
- Covered patio terrace connecting kitchen and living room
- Large private swimming pool with open hill views
- Lawned garden of 650 sqm with olive trees and fig
- Private gated drive, garage, and dedicated parking
- Laundry room, basement room with windows, additional bathroom on lower level
- 7km from both Bagnone and Licciana Nardi
- 40km from Lerici beaches, 100km from Pisa airport
- Good condition throughout — move-in ready with high-end finishes
This is the kind of property that doesn't stay available long once the right buyer finds it. If you're looking for a second home or vacation property in Tuscany that gives you genuine countryside, a real swimming pool, proximity to the Ligurian coast, and a village life that hasn't been packaged for export, the Lunigiana hills are the answer — and this villa is one of the better examples you'll find.
Get in touch through Homestra today to arrange a viewing or request a full information pack. Visits can often be coordinated with a Pisa or Genova arrival for buyers travelling from abroad.
