Casa Mandorla is traceable back to at least the 1850s. In the 1960-70s, many Italians migrated from the land to find work in the larger towns and cities and even further afield. The house was abandoned and fell into disrepair. Only the very thick walls - over a metre wide in parts - were still standing when renovation began in 1998.
Sunflowers are usually the favoured crop
Casa Mandorla used to be a ‘rustico’ – a simple, solitary farming outpost. Although there is little sign of it today, the farmers in this valley once concentrated on rearing livestock rather than on the arable crops the EU subsidises today.
View of approach to Casa Mandorla
A typical Marche farmhouse would house the cattle, sheep or pigs on the ground floor of the house and the family would live above – a warm, symbiotic but rather fragrant relationship.
The cattle quarters have been transformed into a sizeable kitchen, hall, shower room with toilet, and office. A large, airy salotto has been added – the roof reaches over four metres – and French doors open out on to the west-facing terrazzo with its extensive views over the unspoilt Tarugo valley.
Enjoying the barbeque
The house and the surrounding land were bought from the Vatican (‘Curia’) in the late 1980s. The local farmers still rent their fields from the Curia.
