the stay
In the small village of Lippiano, in the hills on the border between Tuscany and Umbria, stands a historic stone farmhouse that carries more than two hundred years within its walls. Thick stone keeps the interior cool even in summer heat, and the wooden beams have watched more generations of families than you can count. A 12th-century castle stands just a few steps away.
The villa is divided into three connected zones — Da Vinci, Bellini, and Bocelli — with six bedrooms, five bathrooms, three kitchens, and two living rooms in total. Three kitchens mean each family zone can hold its own rhythm: one starts the day early, another later, someone else sips coffee alone by their window.
Outside, a saltwater pool overlooks the valley, a fully equipped outdoor kitchen carries a pizza oven and a Kamado ceramic grill, a pergola shades shared dinners, and the aromatic garden grows herbs and olive trees. The garden is fenced — for children who explore the world at their own pace, that's a quiet but vital detail.
Villa Da Eva, Vocabolo Sottocasa 3, Frazione Lippiano, Monte Santa Maria Tiberina (Perugia, Italy).
sensory profile
Five sensory dimensions we specifically rate Villa da Eva on.
Villa da Eva is a balanced profile — everything solid, space at the top. The trade-offs are mostly in rhythm (Italy is not always slow) and privacy (you share the villa with other families).
daily rhythm
Predictability matters for neurodivergent children. Here is the rhythm you can rely on — and prepare your child for in advance.
what to pack
A practical list for ND families. The Tuscan summer is intense.
High-SPF sunscreen
Italian sun is stronger
Insect repellent
mosquitoes around the pool
Soft sandals
stone floors inside
Swimsuits
saltwater pool all day
Light fabrics
linen, cotton, no polyester
Headphones
the flight is loud
Favourite pillow
old house, new bed
A book about Italy
for siestas under pergola
property plan
Walk through the plan with your child before the trip — a historic villa has many nooks. North is up.
what is nearby
Pharmacy, doctor, supermarket — places worth knowing in advance. Umbria and surrounds, distances by car.
sense of place
sound of place · listen
Classic Italian cantautori, Lucio Battisti, soft mandolins. The music every Tuscan trattoria plays at three in the afternoon, when the house and the guests are both half-asleep.
Put it on while making pasta in the Villa's kitchen, and the whole atmosphere of Italian country life materialises by itself. That's the power of acoustic memory.
what's there
Saltwater pool
Pizza oven & BBQ
Aromatic garden
Fenced garden
why we recommend it
The villa we discovered for our Tuscany retreat — but it works just as well for extended families or two or three families together. For neurodivergent children, it's a combination of space, privacy, and quiet that's rare in regular rentals.
The villa is split into three sections (Da Vinci, Bellini, Bocelli) — connected, but separate enough that each family can settle into its own pace. One zone can have a quiet morning, another a noisy kitchen. For families with neurodivergent children who need to step away even from familiar people, this layout is gold.
For families with picky eaters or specific dietary needs, this is a real relief. No group decisions about when and what to cook. Each zone has its own kitchen — you eat when and what you need.
For children who tend to wander, who have a less developed sense of danger, or who explore the world at their own pace, the fence is a critical detail. You can let your child play outside without watching them with your eyes every second.
A private pool in the garden — saltwater instead of chlorine, gentler on skin, hair, and sensory-sensitive children. Views across the valley, no strangers in sight.
A 1790 farmhouse means stone walls a metre thick. In Italian summer heat, the interior stays surprisingly cool — without the hum and dry air of air conditioning. Every bedroom has a ceiling fan for gentle air movement.
Shared dinners under the pergola, pizza from the stone oven, Kamado grill for slow cooking. Kids can join in where they want — rolling dough, helping with the fire — and anyone who's had enough can slip back to their own space.
Lippiano is a small hilltop village — no tourist coaches, no crowds, no noise. The 12th-century castle is a few steps from the villa, so a "day trip" is really just a stroll, not an expedition.
why it worked for us
We came as a family with a child who has developmental language disorder and a nearly three-year-old daughter. Two paces, two needs for quiet, two separate worlds — and one house that could hold them all without anyone having to whisper or apologise.
When our son needed to step away from what was happening around him, we could move with him into one zone of the villa. Our daughter, who at almost three discovers the world with her whole body, could stay in another part with the other parent. No “shhh, your brother is sleeping.” It's something you don't picture in a regular rental until you need it.
The fenced garden was a release. A daughter that age, running without looking back, and me with a body that can't sit and track every step for another hour. Here I let her out, sat in the pergola's shade with my coffee, and knew she was safe. Olives, lavender, cicadas. She played with stones, I breathed.
Three kitchens solve something you can't imagine until you have a picky eater in the family. Our son eats five things. In the villa I could cook pasta at eleven in the morning because today is a pasta day — no group meal under pressure, no “just try a little.” Our own kitchen, our own rhythm.
The saltwater pool was the difference between “no, I won't” and “one more time” for our son. Chlorine bothers him, the smell bothers him. In salt water he was calm and stayed for hours. And the stone walls instead of air conditioning — no hum, no dried-out air, just half a metre of stone and a ceiling fan in the bedroom that quietly stirs the air.
The olive trees catching the gold of the evening light. The silence in Lippiano — real silence, where you hear cicadas on the other side of the valley. The 12th-century castle a five-minute walk away, so an outing was an outing, not an exhaustion. The pizza oven in the early evening — our son rolled the dough and was quiet from excitement for the first time in a long while, not from suppression. The aromatic garden with rosemary, lavender and sage, which we walked through slowly just to breathe it in.
— Andreabest suited for
The villa's six bedrooms are sized for 12 or more people. It works best when filled with either an extended family (parents, children, grandparents, aunts) or two to three close families who want to spend a week together without getting in each other's way.
Suitable for children roughly 3 years and older. Younger kids will manage, but the terrain (stones, hills, Italian countryside) needs attention.
what to watch for
You'll need a car. The nearest larger shop is in Monterchi (about 5–8 km), the supermarket in Città di Castello (~20 min by car). If you're flying in, we recommend renting a car right at the airport (Bologna or Florence).
Summer heat outside can be intense (~35 °C). The interior stays cool thanks to the stone walls, but outings are best planned for morning and evening. The Italian countryside has its own rhythm — a real siesta from 1 to 4 pm, supermarkets closed on Sundays.
booking & contact
We discovered the villa for our Tuscany retreat — if you'd like to join us during retreat dates, you'll find more on the retreat page. For independent bookings outside the retreat, get in touch and we'll connect you directly with the villa owners.
📍 Villa Da Eva, Vocabolo Sottocasa 3, Lippiano, Italygallery
