Only life’s romantics could have happened upon Castello Uglione and focused not on its medieval tower in a state of near collapse, but its mesmeric Tuscan backdrop. The estate was a ‘mud bath’, abandoned by its previous owner who had scandalously erased ancient frescoes, and required a radical renovation when London-based Arnaud Massenet and Caroline Sciamma-Massenet discovered it 2014. However, the couple knew instantly that it ticked a very particular box: ‘As soon as I drove through the gates, I started to breathe,’ says Arnaud.
Roughly equidistant between Florence and Siena, with the snow-capped Italian Alps in the distance and Castello di Santa Maria Novella in the foreground, Uglione is more than just a retreat, it’s a place completely concealed from the outside world. The approach passes miles of bumpy track through neighbouring olive groves. And at night, with cities left far behind, the impenetrable darkness that falls on the grounds is broken only by the flickering torches that light the cypress-lined driveway.
It’s not just Uglione’s setting that is captivating, but its soul. Built around the year 1000, it was mentioned in Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, the epic 14th-century work depicting paradise, purgatory and hell. The tower is said to have been the residence of Taddeo, son of Judge Baldo, the ‘Villan d’Uglione’.
With such a literary past, it might be surprising that the estate appears unassumingly Tuscan at first glance. But inside, the exposed open space reveals great bone structure – something skilfully enhanced by its French owners. Arnaud is a financier and Caroline is a former model who worked with Carine Roitfeld at Vogue Paris and now runs leather clothing brand Skiim. Her collection of framed photographs of Jane Birkin, Brigitte Bardot and Charlotte Rampling stare out from the walls – they couldn’t be further from the characters in Dante’s Inferno. But that is very much the point. After an intensive two-year overhaul, the couple created an ultra-polished contemporary home for their modern family: Arnaud was previously married to Natalie Massenet, founder of online fashion giant Net-a-Porter, with whom he has two daughters, Isabella and Ava, while Caroline has a son, Joshua, from her first marriage. Together they have a toddler, Leonardo.
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The Massenets camped with friends in the area while Florence-based interior designers Vina Matos and Anne Herzog took over Uglione. Foundations were excavated to reinforce the tower, lorry-loads of cement were poured, a swimming pool dug, 4,000 trees planted and a deep fence sunk around the site to prevent the destructive intrusion of wild boars.
They took their castello from medieval darkness into a new light, transforming it not with antiques and brocades but with a mix of mid-century-modern pieces and relaxed objects that nod to Ibiza style, such as woven-grass lanterns and wooden sculptures. There are three buildings: the main villa, tower house and spa, with seven bedrooms spread between them.
Walls and high-beamed ceilings are whitewashed and covered in textured tadelakt plaster, and there are polished-concrete floors. In the open-plan dining room, a table from Bali – carved from a single tree trunk – is surrounded by vintage Knoll chairs picked up at Selfhabitat in Florence and covered in Maison de Vacances mustard velvet. Pharmacy shelves were sourced from Domus Aurea, a Florentine antiques specialist. There’s bold contemporary art on display, including works by photographer Massimo Vitali. Low and white-linen-covered sofas are scattered with sheepskins. ‘We like things to be cosy,’ says Caroline.
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Trips to Salone del Mobile furniture fair in Milan and Paris store Maison et Objets also helped to fill the house: Arnaud repurposed a metallic butterfly table as a lamp that flutters up a wall. There were other moments of inspiration. One autumnal day during renovations, a gale littered the grass with twigs and one caught Arnaud’s eye. ‘We liked the shape,’ he says. So the Matos-Herzog studio took it to a local artisan, who immortalised it in bronze. It became Uglione’s whimsical signature on wall hooks, towel rails and door handles throughout the house.
Inevitably, the property is greatly significant to the pair. ‘It was the first big project we did together,’ explains Arnaud. It took a lot of patience.’ To begin with, the neighbours wouldn’t let them use a water well on their own land – ‘water is gold in Tuscany,’ he says – which resulted in them digging a mile-long trench to the nearby village. The local authorities then objected to the inky aqua colour they wanted for the swimming pool. Eventually, they won permission for their shade of blue. The effort was worth it. ‘We’re all good friends now,’ says Arnaud.
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As the project approached completion in 2016, the Massenets held their wedding reception here, a celebration of ‘good energy’. During the festivities, one guest announced he’d met a spectral visitor in the tower – a priest who, having fallen in love with a servant girl, threw himself from the window. Thankfully, the guest also doubled as a healer and was quick to rid the ghost and restore the balance. And when the couple finally spent the night here, they discovered they had more company. Before dawn, they were woken by the plaintive melody of a nightingale, the muse of artists and poets since the time of Homer.
The birdsong only amplified the creative spirit of the house. Caroline is at her most inspired to design here; a lack of phone reception means there are few distractions, while multiple spaces ensure there’s always somewhere to escape to. And she has sourced distinctively coloured local vegetable dyes to use in her collections. But it’s clear from looking around that the Massenets don’t always spend their time in seclusion. There are DJ decks, table football and table tennis, a boules pitch, wine cellar, hot tub and sauna. A pervasive sense of order and calm is instilled by the concierge, Valentin Fürst, and Lucia Bonciani in the kitchen, no matter how many are bedding down.
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Some guests have made themselves more welcome than others. British chef Tom Aikens, best man at the Massenets’ wedding, is a regular at the estate. Last Christmas, he fired up the outdoor pizza oven, putting Arnaud on log duty, and spent hours experimenting with recipes and temperatures using ingredients from a nearby market. He even persuaded his friends to plant swathes of herbs in the garden to be plundered when he takes over the kitchen.
As New Year’s Eve came around, the couple hosted a bonfire for their neighbours with fireworks exploding over the valley at midnight. Despite all the change, the view remains the same as it was in Dante’s times.
Uglione is a special hideaway for romantics, creatives, chefs and nightingales – but absolutely no ghosts.
Castello Uglione sleeps 14 and is available to rent from about £23,000 per week through Italian specialists bellinitravel.com
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