SUNSHINE, fine food and an abundant supply of good local wine have long been high on the list of those who seek a second home abroad. At Il Cerro you have this and more. This former farmhouse stands in a fascinating and scenic part of Tuscany, only an hour’s drive from Pisa yet still little-visited by tourists.

In this workaday part of Italy, virtually everything goes on the skip when old houses are restored in the hill villages. Not here, though. William Morris himself would have approved of the care with which old fabric has been repaired.

Il Cerro owes its rescue from dereliction to its proximity to the estate of Sir Michael Hopkins, the architect of the new opera house at Glyndebourne. He bought Il Cerro with a parcel of agricultural land two years ago, but having no use for the house he sold it to three men: Paul Cooke, a property developer who specialises in restoring historic warehouses, Douglas Blain, the saviour of numerous early 18th-century houses in Spitalfields, and Tim Jackson-Stops, erstwhile senior partner of the firm of estate agents.

These hills were planted with chestnut trees by the Romans and all the wood in Il Cerro comes from the neighbourhood. You enter the house through the old winestore, where huge barrels stand impressively against the wall. To the right is an en suite bedroom and bath. The design work was undertaken by the late artist and architect Francis Machin, who brought a flourish to everything he did. His new staircase, set free from the walls, climbs up in a bold curve to the living room where the old chestnut beams survive. This opens into a kitchen large enough for a whole family to gather. Immediately outside is a terrace with large dining table that enjoys shade through much of the day. The shimmering pool immediately beyond is in full sun in the summer. Machin enlivened it with a fast-flowing cascade that races down through the rocks. A new archway leads through to a second terrace bordered by a line of cypresses looking across the broad valley below.

Upstairs three bedrooms look out over the valley, each with its own shower or bath, one bath set on a plinth to provide a mountain view.

With repairs complete, Il Cerro is now on the market. A welcome plus is that you can engage the services of Hopkins’ land agent, Richard Hobbs, who will manage the house and even harvest oil from your olive trees. The vendors have retained a second farmhouse behind Il Cerro for their own use – reassurance that once you have acquired a taste for the area you will want to return again and again.

FACTFILE

WHAT YOU GET: 19th-century farmhouse with four en suite bedrooms, pool and three quarters of an acre. 2,583 sq ft.

WHERE IS IT: Cune, Tuscany, 20 minutes’ drive to Lucca, an hour to Pisa airport and 90 minutes’ drive to Florence.

WHERE

TO EAT: Locanda di Sesto in Ponte a Moriano, a nearby village.

PRICE: €695,000 (£499,000), via Knight Frank International, 020-7629 8171, www.knightfrank.com/italy/en

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