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"Rustic Italian Villas\nExperience a bit of la dolce vita as you peruse these dreamy retreats\nArchitects Marta and Oscar Fisch did a long-distance redesign for their summer residence in Tuscany's Val di Chiana, creating the plans in New York and working with local architect Fabrizio Bardelli to help with permits and red tape. (Renovations in Tuscany are highly regulated.) The result is a refreshed 400-year-old farmhouse filled with modern comforts and surrounded by breathtaking landscapes. (September 2009)\nOn Sardinia's Costa Smeralda, interior designer Florence Pucci expanded and decorated a villa originally built by architect Savin Cou\u00EBlle. Pucci whitewashed the walls of the cavernous living room and chose pale-blue furnishings to give it an airy feeling. A terrace was added outside the arched windows, creating space beneath for new bedrooms and baths. (August 2008)\nIn 1994, Count Antonio and Countess Angelika Bolza purchased Castello di Reschio, a 2,000-acre estate in Umbria with 50 homes, which they are restoring for new owners. A British family settled in two houses connected by a short pathway and installed a pool on the far side of the one reserved for guests. The terrace and pool are sheltered by reclaimed-stone walls. (October 2002)\nArchitect James Cavagnari and interior designer Erin Quiros gave new life to their 300-year-old summer home on the island of Salina. The couple modernized the house while staying true to the local architectural style. Cavagnari softened the walls' corners, built in benches and niches, and laid terra-cotta tiles on the floors. The four-poster in the \"mother-in-law\" room has built-in seating at the foot to eliminate the need for extra furniture, while complementing the minimalist feel of the decor. (January 2005)\nIn the Chianti region, a couple took on the challenge of converting a deconsecrated church and adjacent apartment into a livable space. With the help of architect Marco Vidotto and interior designer Susan Schuyler Smith, the once-abandoned property was reborn. The garden terrace, planned by landscape architect Nancy Leszczynski, is planted with Italian sage, rosemary, and a pomegranate tree. (March 2010)\nA 760-year-old mill house in Italy's Marches region serves as a rustic retreat for London-based designer David Laws. Laws tried to keep the home, which includes a moat, as authentic as possible, although he did allow for some modern conveniences including an up-to-date kitchen and new heating, plumbing, and electricity. An English jointer living in Italy constructed the kitchen cabinetry. (September 1999)\nArchitect Fulvio di Rosa restored Borgo di Vagli, a 32-acre village in Tuscany, over a span of ten years. Di Rosa rebuilt Il Salto di Gatto, one of the 11 stone dwellings in the hamlet, with stones and bricks from the town's rubble, taking care to preserve the rural architecture of the building. (February 2005)\nArchitect Count Benedikt Bolza (son of Count Antonio and Countess Angelika Bolza) restored a crumbling farmhouse on his family's estate, Castello di Reschio, for a British family. The architect used the home's original footprint and materials in the renovation, while adding contemporary conveniences such as a gym and game room. The interiors, decorated by Countess Angelika, feature a muted palette in tune with the pale limestone floors, plaster walls, and limed-oak beams. (April 2009)\nFilm producer and director Robert Zemeckis's 6,900-square-foot Tuscan farmhouse sits within the ruins of a tenth-century castle. The picturesque property, which includes 22 acres of land, a working vineyard, and an olive grove, is ideal for both indoor and outdoor entertaining. This alfresco dining area offers views of the pool and surrounding countryside. (May 2010)\nA dilapidated villa in Turin received a historically conscious makeover by Susie and Gianni Ropolo. The welcoming kitchen features tinted-plaster walls and trompe l'oeil baseboards by Giacomo Aimo, a fourth-generation decorative painter whose work appears throughout the home. The terra-cotta floor was salvaged from another room. (November 2007)\nBuilder Nicholas Risley helped a couple turn an abandoned farmhouse with a collapsed roof and no electricity or plumbing into a stunning spot for large family gatherings. The exterior was restored using stones from other ruined homes in the area, and the landscape architects Euroambiente took cues from neighboring properties to make the grounds blend in with the surrounding landscape. (February 2007)\nA derelict 1,000-year-old abbey near San Quirico d'Orcia became the Tuscan home of John and Betty Sargent after an extensive renovation by restoration architect Paolo Rossi. The impressive 90-by-37-foot central hall has soaring vaulted ceilings and is broken up into a mix of intimate and spacious entertaining areas. (July 2003)"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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