Peace in the valley: San Quirico d’Orcia

Days filled with children’s laughter, long, lazy lunches on the terrace, and little rituals of bike rides to the local gelateria or watching the antics of baby wild boar in the orchard – these are just a few of the memories forged in one Tuscan home.

The stuff of dreams for some, but a snapshot of life over the past decade for Barbara Christie-Miller and her family who’ve owned a stone farmhouse in San Quirico d’Orcia, 35km from Siena. Its elegant rooms filled with family photos, artwork and walls of books attest to the numerous gatherings, as well as the owner’s literary life and love of film. “There are 22 of us when we all get together,” says Christie-Miller, who has five children and 10 grandchildren, the oldest of whom is 15.

It’s palpably so much more than an occasional home. Christie-Miller lives there full time, with her partner and her dogs, enjoying frequent visits from family and friends. “It’s set up as a year-round home, well insulated to be both cool during the heat of August yet cosy during winter evenings with underfloor heating and log-burning stoves,” she says.

When she first spotted the property 10 years ago, the roof had nearly collapsed. Its beautifully elevated position in the valley meant it was a favourite picnicking spot of local families or hunting parties. It sits atop undulating hills running one after the other, with rows of cypress trees and isolated farmhouses dotted here and there. The historic village of San Quirico sits between the hilltop towns of Pienza and Montalcino.

“Nobody had lived in the house for around 50 years. I think while the locals were happy it was ‘saved’, there was also a bit of disappointment when I bought it to renovate,” she laughs. She’d had a holiday home in the area for many years after a lifelong love of Italy.

“Back when we bought in the Val d’Orcia, Chianti was the big thing; but Romans have always loved having homes here and it’s become far more fashionable.”

Her 18-month-long renovation achieved a sympathetic restoration with some contemporary touches including floor-to-ceiling windows in the travertine-floored kitchen and wooden sliding doors into the sitting room or ‘home cinema’, which she adores.

Six bedroom suites (with scope for a seventh) offer room for a large family or guests, as well as a huge downstairs cantina that once catered for a sit-down meal for 75 for her house-warming party in 2014. There’s also a home office studio (with superb broadband), that can be accessed independently and adapted into a separate apartment. “I’ve had many cosy winter suppers around the kitchen table, although my favourite place in summer is the parata [covered terrace] to sip gin and tonics while admiring the views.”

Outside, within the property’s 12 acres of land, are the 200 olive trees she planted along with wild cherries, plums, lemons and apple trees, plus the basil, garlic and tomatoes essential for Italian cooking; she makes cherry liqueur too from her own produce. “The children love to put out little piles of plums for the wild boar to come and eat with bowls of water,” Christie-Miller says. “They watch from the upstairs windows.” Porcupines and badgers have also been spotted on nocturnal forays in the grounds.

The garden is deliberately low maintenance. “I only need to have a couple of gardeners for one morning a week; I didn’t want it to be too modified. As it’s said here, it’s un giardino-non è un giardino– a garden but not a garden.”

As such, a beautifully natural-looking oval swimming pool, shaped like the lake once in its place, looks inviting, and there are ‘secret’ paths down to the River Orcia for further bathing spots. “It’s only 90 minutes from the coast at Argentario where we love to hire a boat for the day,” says Christie-Miller. Keen to spend more than just summer holidays with her grandchildren, she’s relocating to the UK.

“I feel the property should be enjoyed by more than just us. We can buy a smaller place or even rent one of the many other beautiful Tuscan homes out there. But I know for sure I’ll never have a house as beautiful as this again.”

San Quirico d’Orcia has a guide price of €3,900,000.