The Story of Borgo Argenina Borgo Argenina was first mentioned in historical documents in 998 AD when Baron Ricasoli donated part of the hamlet to the monks of Badia Coltibuono abbey. The hamlet was home to poor farmworkers for hundreds of years. Their stone houses were beautiful and skillfully made, but they had a very hard life. I Fall in Love I was living in Milan, working as a fashion designer in Milan when I went on a trip to Tuscany. There, on a hilltop overlooking Chianti vineyards, I spotted five stone houses.The site had been abandoned for more than fifty years and had no power, no running water and no bathrooms. The ruins were covered in weeds, the ceilings had fallen in, and the access road was in terrible condition. I fell in love with it anyway. In 1992 I moved to Gaiole in Chianti with my ten-year-old daughter Fiorenza, to restore the hamlet. I had a dream that it could be somewhere really special. The restoration took five years. I worked there every day alongside a wonderful group of skilled workmen. It was a massive project and included digging wells, getting the hamlets first ever electricity and water connected, repairing walls and roofs, adding bathrooms and laying the access road. An Italian journalist wrote in a local paper: We are about to get a new miracle in Chianti! Next to the article was a photo of me scrubbing and refinishing an old door. Over my shoulder were not just the remaining 46 doors, but the entire medieval hamlet waiting to be brought back to life! In March 1998, exactly a thousand years after its first mention in historical documents, I opened Borgo Argenina. It is now a well-known luxury B&B in Chianti region. My dream has finally come true and I cant wait to share it with you. Elena Nappa
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 16:46:38 +0000
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