„I had a farm in Tuscany....“ The famous line "Out of Africa" could just as well apply to this farm owned by the Mozzoni Paravicino Crespi family in Lucignano between Arezzo and Siena, only one hour south of Florence.

At 400 metres above sea level, this organic farm produces olive oil and raises the wiede-horned white local cattle, although only part of its five hundred hectares is devoted to agriculture. The rest is covered with Mediterranean bush and woodland where the cattle can roam free and seek the shade during the summer months.

The farm was acquired by the Mozzoni Paravicino Crespi family in the 1960's. They already had a large organic farm in NOrthern Italy and a busy life in Milan and the feeling here is that they sought to create a bucolic ideal of a simple lifestyle in harmony with nature and the local farmers. /p>

Scattered all over the farmland are fifteen farmhouses, one more lovely than the other, overlooking a magnificent Tuscan lanscape of rolling hills dotted with umbrella pines and cypress trees punctuating the horizon. The first farmhouse to be restored for guests is Il Mulino or the MIll.

THE IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS The nearest village is the medieval Lucignano on a hilltop, famous for its eliptic streets. Here you will find grocery stores, cafés, newsstands, banks and simple trattorias. A detailed list of restaurants recommended in the vicinity can be found in the farmhouse. But you will not want to miss the surrounding villages such as Monte San Savino, Foiano, Sinalunga and Castiglion Fiorentino as well as the medieval hamlet of Gargonza, all of which will conform in their picturesque perfection to everyone's dream of a hilltop Tuscan village.       Lucignano
DISTANCES FROM LA BADIA Lucignano, 5 minutes – here you will find all shopping facilites Monte San Savino, 12 minutes Sinalunga 12 minutes Arezzo 20 minutes Chianti area 30 minutes Montepulciano, Pienza & Cortona 30 minutes Florence & Siena 1 hour Orvieto & Perugia 1 hour
SPORTS & WELLNESS Thanks to the natural hot water springs in nearby Rapolano Terme (18 km) you can choose from two spas to treat yourself to mud baths, massages, facials and many other tempting treatments. www.termeaq.it and www.termesangiovanni.it . There are tennis courts in the next village Lucignagno at 3 km, mountain bikes can be hired there too. AIRPORTS AND TRANSPORT Siena 60 kms - small airport for private planes Florence 1 hour 15 minutes drive – international airport Pisa 2 hours - international airport Rome Fiumicino 2,20 hours - international and intercontinental airport Rome Ciampino 2 hours – national and low cost airport The nearest train station is Arezzo, on the main line from Florence to Rome. The trip to Florence takes a little over one hour. For Rome calculate no less than 2 hours.