The house itself:
The detached, two-storey house has two bedrooms on the first floor and a lounge and kitchen/diner on the ground level; all windows, which receive the morning sun, look out onto the views described above. The bedrooms have French windows leading out onto small balconies overlooking the valley. The afternoon and evening sun settles on the side terraces. All the rooms have high ceilings and three have light ash parquet floors - giving a good sense of space and lightness – while the stairs leading up from the lobby to the bathroom are in marble, as are the kitchen draining board and the window frames. The recently refurbished kitchen has a terracotta floor with inlaid decorative tiles. The lounge has two deep settees, radio and CD player, coffee table and sideboard containing a variety of local guide-books, tourist information on places to visit, annual events and OS maps for walkers, a few board games and DVDs.
The village:
The village itself has a small piazza with a bar and restaurant. There is also a post-office, general store, bakery and doctor’s surgery. Travelling shops selling fish, cheeses, fruit and vegetables set up their stalls in the piazza once a week. The village on the plain at the bottom of the hill has a bank, a supermarket, laundry and a variety of shops and services, including a dentist. An archway from the piazza leads into the lanes of the main part of the ancient township with its church and 10th century castle, in the grounds of which during the summer the Commune hosts a full cultural programme. A detailed history of Ameglia (in Italian), from its iron-age origins, can be found in the house. (Please, do not hesitate to contact owner for website link or further information and more details).
The house and its surrounds:
A small village, Montemarcello, lies at the top of the hill, from which there are spectacular views of the Gulf of Poets, with Lerici (about 4 miles from Ameglia) to the east of the bay, where Shelley lived, and the headland of Portovenere from which Byron swam. You can walk from our house through the woods directly to Lerici or take a magnificent cliff top walk to the charming hamlet of Tellaro. Ferries run from Lerici to the Cinque Terre, which can also be reached by car and by train from Sarzana. For information on timetables and prices visit the Trenitalia web site. Forte dei Marmi, which is an expensive resort along the coast with designer boutiques and an 18-hole golf course, is only a 15 mile drive away. Lucca and Pisa are within an easy one hour drive and it takes a little longer to drive to Florence and Parma. Depending on time, on your return journey from Lucca you can visit Puccini's villa on Torre del Lago, and during the season attend a performance of one of his operas.
Ski:
For winter visitors, the Cerreto ski resort at over 1,500 metres with 5 chair lifts and cross-country skiing and slopes for children and adult beginners, is an hour long drive from the house.
marks the location of the property in La Spezia
