In the heart of Tuscany, Pierattelli Architetture has designed the Pieve Aldina boutique hotel, a jewel in the crown of Italian hospitality that preserves the history and character of the place
In an ancient town that has hardly changed over the centuries, set among gently rolling hills, olive groves and vineyards, Pierattelli Architetture has created the Pieve Aldina boutique hotel, an Italian hospitality gem that preserves the original buildings. The hotel, in fact, is located in a former episcopal complex dating back to the 12th century in Radda in Chianti, a medieval village along the Chiantigiana, the ‘wine road’ that connects Florence and Siena.
Pieve Aldina hotel: the project
Surrounded by 40 hectares of olive groves, the hotel is part of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux collection and has 22 rooms and suites, an outdoor swimming pool, spa and restaurant. The project, which stems from the conservative renovation of a former episcopal complex, is made up of three buildings covering an area of 2,000 square meters.
The Pieve Aldina boutique hotel features irregular façades in pietraforte sandstone, thick walls, sturdy timber frames, terracotta Tuscan roof tiles, porticoes and internal courtyards, high ceilings on the lower floors and lower sloping ones on the upper level: the typical elements of a traditional Tuscan farmhouse. Part of these buildings has been listed by the Italian Ministry of Culture as part of Italy’s historical heritage.
Pieve, Studiolo and Conventino
Pierattelli Architetture has maintained and restored the original interior wall decorations on the piano nobile of the main building adjacent to the church, known as “la Pieve”. A stone staircase leads to the first floor, a large space where a coffered wooden ceiling adds to the warm atmosphere and natural lime walls decorated with neoclassical frescoes lend elegance and refinement.
Like “la Pieve”, the other two buildings, “Studiolo” and “Conventino”, are also enhanced by wonderful wooden ceilings and windows that look out onto unspoilt green countryside. The interiors are a fusion of stylistic purity and contemporary taste in line with sober furnishings with clean lines. The prevalent colors are those of earth such as sage green and different shades of beige, white and brown. Moreover, terracotta for the floors, lime plaster for the walls, wood for the fixtures and painted skirting boards are all preserved archetypes of Tuscan rural architecture.
Le Rondini restaurant
The outhouses, where farming tools were once kept and olives were left before pressing, have been transformed into “Le Rondini” restaurant. This 100-square-meter space features a fabulous vaulted ceiling in iron and terracotta and track lighting. Here Pierattelli Architetture has designed a large opening in the wall that allows diners to watch the chefs at work in the kitchen, as well as a new arched passageway onto the internal courtyard to open the windows and eat outside in fine weather.
