Borgo Rofina

Outside Cortona, Italy l 2014 l 8 acres

Collaboration Ron Henderson, Alex Marchinski

Trees (40) including olives, lindens, and cypresses

A late middle ages garrison was strategically located on a small knob that overlooks a steep valley, then controlled by the Florentine Republic, with a long prospect easterly to Umbria and the Tiber River valley, then controlled by the Papal States. The abandoned garrison is renovated as a home and agri-turismo lodging.

The landscape is one of renewal and conservation. Two acres of olive groves on the lower slopes are being restored. Fig, plum, apricot, and walnut trees afford additional fruits and nuts to be foraged on-site. Columnar cypresses mark a new archery range. Lindens anchor the new entry courtyard amidst exposed rocky ledge and terraces enclosed by rosemary, hibiscus and laurel hedges. At the lower, northern, end of the walled compound is a linear pool nestled against the ruined garrison walls with a lofty prospect to the breadth of the valley below and to the distant Apennine Mountains.