The Piazza del Duomo, Michelangelo’s David, Botticelli’s Madonna, and the Boboli Gardens clad with antiquities are just a few of the sights that make Florence a one-stop shop for culture and art.
For your next vacation, skip the summer rentals and hotel suites. Instead, stake a claim on a villa that gives you proximity to the historical sights without sacrificing privacy. Perched on the highest point of the esteemed Costa San Giorgio hillside community sits Via del Forte di San Giorgio, a picturesque villa looking out across the Italian city. The property’s location comes with major bragging rights due to its stellar views and proximity to Ponte Vecchio—the arched bridgeway rich with jewelers’ and goldsmiths’ boutiques—which looks over the Arno River and leads to the illustrious city center.
The villa was designed by the late Cecil Pinsent, an English architect and landscape designer known for his reimagined 16th-century Tuscan gardens. The distinctly Florentine villa has extensive living space with six bedrooms, six baths, and a sprawling backyard showcasing Pinsent’s thoughtful use of the land and indigenous flora. The interiors imbue comfort and sophistication with cream-colored drapes, fireplaces, high ceilings, and detailed wall moldings reminiscent of classical European interiors.
Office overlooking Florence Photo: Courtesy Italy Sotheby's International Realty
The two-level home has an elegant dining room, a large kitchen, and a staff apartment with a kitchen and double bedroom, all on the main level. Luxurious furniture and a prominent stone fireplace dominate the living room, where windows frame the dusty-pink, terra-cotta-tiled exterior of Il Duomo di Firenze. Head upstairs to find a studio space with stunning city views as well as four charming suites with private bathrooms drenched in light and connected by dark wood flooring.
An outdoor space features a gym and massage area with music delivered by surround-sound speakers and an adjacent terrace with a series of lounge chairs facing the skyline and rolling hills surrounding Florence. Below a garden replete with manicured hedges and perfect views of the towering dome is a glistening swimming pool with panoramic views.
Modern features include an escalator to the 1,000-square-foot attic, an advanced alarm system, three safes, and a five-car garage.
This Florentine villa is listed by Italy Sotheby’s International Realty for $17.7 million.
