A TUSCAN VIEW

This is the garden of a charming little house, once a barn. We call it, for reasons best known to Himself, "The widow Twankey's house." Her name is not Twankey and she is not a widow. She doesn't live here but she bought it some time ago to do up as a place in the country and, I think, to let to tourists. It would be a dream place to stay because not only is the house and its veranda delightful, it has a good view of the goings-on below it.

Just visible is the rooftop of the wealthy divorcee's house and the tiniest glimpse of a house owned by the wicked old priest, done up and rented to tourists by his nephew. I often refer people to it because it rents, year round for 550 euros per week, has four bedrooms and sleeps seven. A bargain.

We were invited in to see the interior of the barn/house only a few days ago. It is typical in that it has a large kitchen with a dining table, but the kitchen also opens onto a terrace with another dining table and oh, wow, the view from there is fabulous. There is a tiny "studio" but no sitting room. Almost all country houses are bereft of sitting rooms. Comfort, as we know it with sofas and overstuffed chairs with footstools are unknown. TV sets are wherever the dining table is.

Upstairs there are two bedrooms with a bathroom in between. She has done a great job in turning a barn into a darling little house. I can only fault her on the furnishings. A rustic house like this wants couthy wooden furniture but a lot of hers is metal or somehow pointy and hostile.

In the beginning she had a few tenants via an English agent, but then the agent came to inspect and told her she must put a ring fence all along the edge of the garden for safety reasons. People might tumble over the edge. All steps needed railings. There was a very long list. As you can see, a big fence would ruin what you see above. She could find an Italian agent but they take 40 percent. She comes out and looks after the plants regularly but for the most part, it is unused.

This is the house from the other side and from the road below: House

It's a fine day here and the whole countryside is buzzing with activity, most of it strimmers as people clear the terraces and the olive groves. The olives are turning colour early so it will be an early start to the harvest and the crop looks good.