Farmhouse Restoration in the Crete Senesi: Architecture, Landscape and Local Expertise

The Crete Senesi: Tuscany's clay landscape

The Crete Senesi, the rolling clay hills south of Siena, is one of Tuscany's most distinctive landscapes. Biancane — white clay formations sculpted by erosion — define the terrain. Isolated farmhouses, many built in brick or rough stone in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, punctuate a landscape of almost cinematic quality. The area falls within Ambito di paesaggio n. 33 of Tuscany's Piano di Indirizzo Territoriale, a highly protected zone that covers both the Crete Senesi and Val d'Orcia. It is beautiful, and it requires careful navigating.

Typical farmhouse typology in the Crete Senesi

The most common farmhouse typology here is a two-storey brick structure with hipped or half-hipped roof, built between 1880 and 1940, often as part of a mezzadria sharecropping estate. These buildings have thick load-bearing masonry walls, timber roof structures, terracotta-tiled floors and small windows. They are well suited to restoration: structurally robust, thermally massive, and genuinely beautiful when worked with rather than against. Our approach always begins with understanding the building as it is, not as a blank canvas.

Landscape protection and permits in the Crete Senesi

Any external works in the Crete Senesi — facade modifications, new openings, pool construction, access road changes — require an autorizzazione paesaggistica from the Soprintendenza ABAP of Siena and Grosseto. The Relazione Paesaggistica that supports the application must document the current state of the property and its landscape context, the proposed intervention, and its compatibility with the PIT character objectives for Ambito 33. In our experience the process is manageable with thorough preparation, typically taking two to four months. Internal works without facade modifications require only a SCIA from the Comune.

Our practice in the Crete Senesi

Studio Feri Associati is based in Chianciano Terme, at the southern edge of the Crete Senesi. Our most recent completed project is Il Poderino, a late-19th-century brick farmhouse in San Giovanni d'Asso restored for an American family. We have worked across the area — from Asciano to Rapolano Terme, from Trequanda to San Giovanni d'Asso — and we have an established working relationship with the Comuni and the Soprintendenza offices that cover this territory. Our clients are primarily international; we work in English and provide full-service project management from pre-purchase due diligence to final handover.