The Villa — Five Bedrooms Above Orvieto

1The Main House

Where everyone sleeps

Four lovingly appointed bedrooms across three floors, complemented by three full bathrooms — every bedroom with its own air conditioning. Terracotta floors and beamed ceilings run the length of the house; nothing about the renovation tried to disguise the fact that it is 1800s stone.

4

Bedrooms

3

Full bathrooms

3

Floors

A/C

In every bedroom

Villa San Gabriele sits on two hectares above Orvieto, in southern Umbria, with the medieval town and its cathedral visible from the garden. The main house sleeps eight across four bedrooms, with a separate guest house by the pool for two more when the group runs larger. It is a private villa rental rather than a hotel — built for slow mornings and long dinners outside, with a real person to call if anything is needed during the stay.

A sitting room lined with books and warmed by an open fire is where the evenings of a stay at Villa San Gabriele tend to happen — armchairs pulled up close, a glass of something local, and the doors thrown open onto the garden whenever the weather allows. Terracotta floors and beamed ceilings run the length of the house, the same restored 1800s stonework found in every room, kept as it was rather than smoothed over for the sake of a renovation.

The villa has a country kitchen with a gas stove, terracotta floors, and a table long enough for the whole party to cook together.

One of the double bedrooms, with its own en-suite bathroom just through the door — a pedestal sink and a walk-in shower, glimpsed past the frame. An antique wood dresser holds framed photographs and whatever is in flower in the garden that week; the window looks out over the grounds, shuttered against the afternoon sun and thrown open again once it cools.

Every bedroom in the house shares the same restored terracotta floors and beamed ceilings, though each one is furnished individually rather than to a single set pattern — floral quilts, dark wood antiques, and a view that changes from room to room, whether that is the garden below or the hills towards Orvieto.

See every room

2The Guest House

Room for two more

A separate stone annexe a few steps across the lawn, with its own bedroom, bathroom and a fully-equipped kitchenette. It sits near the pool and is prepared for parties of nine or more, or on request for guests who would simply like the extra privacy.