Borgo Pignano Villas, Volterra | Exclusive Villa Collection

Pignano, Volterra · Tuscany, Italy: nine private villas on a 750-acre organic estate

Borgo Pignano

A hamlet first recorded in 1139, restored stone by stone, with nine private villas across 750 organic acres, a Michelin Green Star table and a spa in the old well-house, arranged privately by Exclusive Villa Collection on inquiry.

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The house

In stills

A first reading of the stay: rooms, light, and the quiet between them. Each still is a note, not a catalogue.

A farmhouse kitchen with a long wooden table, leather chairs and a glass-fronted dresser at the Poggio villas, Borgo Pignano — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Long stone-edged pool reflecting a row of cypresses at the Poggio villas, Borgo Pignano — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

View through a stone archway to a dining table and kitchen with a fanlight window in a Poggio villa — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Wooden dining table and leather chairs before a glass-fronted dresser of white china in a Poggio villa — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Bedroom with a tall upholstered headboard, striped bench and antique chests on terracotta floors in a Poggio villa — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Beamed bedroom with an arched window, armchairs and a wardrobe in a Poggio villa — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Villa Cusignano from above its lawns, with the pool, parasols and sunloungers in evening light — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Overhead view of the Villa Cusignano pool with white parasols and sunloungers on the lawn — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Curved stone fountain pool with brick walls and lanterns in the gardens of Villa Cusignano — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Living room with beamed ceiling, chandelier, red sofa and striped armchairs at Villa Cusignano — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Reading corner with a striped armchair, antique bookcase and long curtains at Villa Cusignano — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Marble double vanity, arched mirror and walk-in shower in a Villa Cusignano bathroom — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Living room of The Artists' House with a pale blue sofa, coral armchairs, a large painting and garden doors — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Kitchen and dining table with flowers, terracotta floors and garden doors at The Artists' House — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Sunlit bedroom beneath a bold figurative painting, with a writing desk and armchair, at The Artists' House — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Bedroom with a quilted headboard opening through tall doors to an arched hallway at The Artists' House — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Living room with a stone fireplace, green sofa and doors open to the garden at Casa del Lago — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Country kitchen with green tiles, a wooden dining table and sunflowers at Casa del Lago — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Bedroom with a painted green door opening to the bathroom at Casa del Lago — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Pale green kitchen opening through an arch to the dining room, with terracotta floors, at La Casa del Guardia — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Beamed bedroom with a coral armchair, antique chest and shuttered windows at La Casa del Guardia — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Bedroom with an antique chest of drawers and doors through to further rooms at La Casa del Guardia — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Bedroom with a padded headboard seen from its en-suite bathroom at La Casa del Guardia — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Stone facade with an arched window and doorway in warm evening light at Villa Cusignano — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

The Experience

How the days feel

Borgo Pignano is a hamlet first settled in Etruscan times and documented since 1139, set some 500 meters up at the heart of a 750-acre organic estate outside Volterra and restored over the past quarter century with natural, local materials. Woods, orchards, olive groves, lakes and an organic vineyard fall away toward the Berignone and Castelvecchio nature reserves, with views that can reach the sea, and scattered through that landscape are nine private villas, each with its own pool and garden.

A day might open with Iyengar yoga on the lawn terrace of the main villa or a ride out from the stables, drift into a truffle hunt or a morning with the resident herbalist, and close at Villa Pignano, where the kitchen cooks from the estate’s own gardens. Phones are politely discouraged in public spaces, and the quiet is the point.

Your advisor matches the villa to the party, from two bedrooms in oak woodland to six with a private chef, and settles the dates directly with the estate. In Florence, Villa La Sosta, a five-bedroom residence with its own entrance and Italian gardens at Borgo Pignano Florence, makes a natural city pairing.

Why EVC loves it

Why we would send you here

Nine villas, one estate Two to six bedrooms, each villa with its own pool and garden, spread across the estate, with the hamlet’s restaurants, spa and stables close at hand.
History you can sleep in Documented since 1139, raised into a country seat by the Incontri family, and brought back to life by its current owners with local stone and old craft.
A table grown on the land Chef Angelantonio Cioffi’s Michelin Green Star cooking at Villa Pignano, the estate’s own organic wines, olive oil and Millefiori honey.
Art as part of daily life A collection that includes British artists and visiting talent from the Royal Drawing School, residencies through the year, and painting in the open air.
Countryside, properly slow 750 organic acres, eight marked trails, riding, forest bathing and the herbalist’s workshops, on an estate recognized with Green Globe certification in 2021.

Inside the stay

The house, in notes

Where you sleep, what you eat, and how you arrive: the essentials, in brief.

Grand beamed salon with arched openings, chandeliers, a sage sofa and stone stair at Villa Cusignano — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Villas & residences

Where you stay

Nine villas, each with its own pool and garden and an electric buggy for getting about the estate.

Intimate. The Artists’ House, in an oak and beech copse, with a studio and a wood-burning stove; Casa del Lago, above a pond ringed with poplars; Il Vignino, at the edge of the vineyard; Il Poggiarello, alone on a hill facing Volterra; La Lavandaia, with a wide, partly covered terrace.

For families and groups. La Cavallerizza, above the stables; Il Poggio, with a heated infinity pool, a wood-fired oven and a mini gym; La Fonte, beside one of the estate’s lakes; Villa Cusignano, six bedrooms in about 1,000 m², with a private gym, breakfast by a private chef and a seven-seater car.

Historic houses. La Casa del Guardia, a first-floor maisonette in a seventeenth-century stone house; La Canonica, the medieval priest’s house beside the Church of San Bartolomeo.

Table for two laid with white linen on a terrace overlooking hills at golden hour, Borgo Pignano — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Dining

The table

Three restaurants and Bar Belvedere, cooking largely from the estate’s own gardens, orchards, vineyards and olive groves.

Villa Pignano. The fine-dining room, where chef Angelantonio Cioffi’s lighter, contemporary Tuscan cooking holds a Michelin Green Star: local meats, seafood from the nearby coast, desserts and chocolates made in house.

By the season. Al Fresco, the informal summer table, fires pizzas and grills outdoors; in spring and autumn, Il Camino gathers guests at one long table beside an open fire for Pignano’s hand-cured ham and bistecca alla fiorentina.

In the villa. Breakfast is served in the main restaurant, or a private chef can cook in any villa; at Villa Cusignano, breakfast by a private chef is part of the stay. Cooking classes and tastings of the estate’s organic wines round out the week.

Guest at the edge of an infinity pool looking out over wooded Tuscan hills at Villa Cusignano — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Spa & Wellness

Quiet hours

La Cisterna Spa occupies the estate’s restored well-house, where the village drew its water in medieval times.

Treatments. Private treatment rooms work with oils infused with wildflowers, herbs and botanicals from the estate, alongside Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella; signatures include the aromatherapy massage and a Romantic Signature Ritual.

Heat and cold. Steam bath, sauna and cryotherapy, with herbal teas brewed from wild herbs gathered by the house herbalist.

Water and movement. Three estate pools: the Cave Pool, an infinity pool cut from an old limestone quarry beneath the main villa, the Agricola Pool and a family pool. Iyengar, vinyasa and yin yoga, a gym, and a sports center for tennis and basketball.

Infinity pool with parasols and sunloungers on stone terraces beside Villa Cusignano — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Experiences

Days on the estate

The estate is made for unhurried days, with eight marked trails of three to six kilometers, bikes and e-bikes, and the Berignone and Castelvecchio nature reserves on its doorstep.

On the land. Rides from the estate’s own stables, including an evening trek that pauses at Prosecco Rock for sunset; truffle hunting with a local hunter and a Lagotto Romagnolo; forest bathing, foraging and natural-cosmetics workshops with the herbalist; the apiary and its Millefiori honey.

Art and heritage. A collection that spans British artists and Royal Drawing School talent, plein-air painting classes, and La Collezione Italiana, a gathering of vintage Italian cars, motorcycles and bicycles.

Beyond the gates. A complimentary daily shuttle into Volterra; Florence, Lucca, Pisa and the Bolgheri wine country all within a day’s reach.

Garden pool with parasols among flowering shrubs, looking over green fields and woods at Casa del Lago — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Who it is best for

Who feels at home here

Families and friends traveling together who want a house of their own: La Fonte sleeps up to eleven and Il Poggio eight, with the hamlet’s restaurants, spa and stables close by.

Couples. Two-bedroom villas in woodland, beside a lake or on a hilltop, for a slow week of long lunches, rides and quiet pools.

Celebrations. Il Poggio, La Fonte and Casa del Lago can be reserved in their entirety for an intimate wedding; vows can also be exchanged in the woods or in the courtyard of the Church of San Bartolomeo.

Young riders. The riding center welcomes children from their very first pony ride. Villa pools are not fenced, worth knowing with small children.

Aerial view at sunset of the Borgo Pignano hamlet in its woods, with golden fields rolling away toward the hills near Volterra — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Getting there

The arrival is part of the stay

Borgo Pignano sits in the hills outside Volterra, about 65 km from Florence, a little over an hour by road, and 82 km from Pisa.

On the estate. Villas lie from 200 meters to about 4 km from the hamlet, each with private parking and its own electric buggy; several have EV charging, and Villa Cusignano comes with a seven-seater car.

Good to know. A complimentary shuttle runs into Volterra, 15 km away, every day for up to seven guests, booked in advance. Your advisor times the arrival to the villa you choose.

Aerial view of Villa Cusignano and its pool at sunset above hills stretching to the horizon — Photo courtesy of Borgo Pignano

Seasonality

When the house is open

The estate’s calendar follows the land, and each season changes how the table and the days are set.

Spring and autumn. Villa Pignano serves lunch and dinner every day in April, May, September and October, and Il Camino lights its fire for convivial dinners. The picnic ride into the woods keeps to the cooler months.

Summer. June to August brings Al Fresco’s outdoor grill, while Villa Pignano turns to dinner only. Sunset treks to Prosecco Rock run from May to the end of September.

Planning. Opening dates vary by villa; your advisor confirms them when you inquire.

Virtual tours

Walk through the villas

Room-by-room 3D tours of each villa. Each opens in a new tab.

Historic houses in the hamlet

Distances are from the hamlet.

Pair it with

A natural companion

A second stay that belongs on the same itinerary.

Related stays

Houses we would weigh alongside this one.

Also in these collections

The collections that hold this stay

Each collection gathers houses that share a way of traveling. Open one to see its companion stays and shores.

From the Journal

Stories that include this stay

Where this house appears in our writing, beside the places and companions we pair with it.

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Borgo Pignano

Borgo Pignano

In stills

How the days feel

Why we would send you here