A secret hideaway in Italy's magical Marche

The house and its setting 
Casa Donaldo is a century-old stone-built farmhouse that has been extensively renovated to modern standards of comfort during the last three years. It is house number 40 in the Frazione of Santo Stefano in the Comune of Monte San Martino, in the Marche region of Italy.

Main house
It comprises, on the ground and first floors, a large sitting room and kitchen with a utility room, a dining room and a library, a master bedroom with ensuite bathroom and dressing room, a second bedroom with ensuite facilities and two further bedrooms that share the main bathroom.

Flat
With independent access, the second floor comprises a two bedroom flat with bathroom, living room and kitchen with its own panoramic terrace. The house is surrounded by a tiled yard, covered on the west side by a large pergola which itself gives onto a large cortile (courtyard). There are various outhouses and the house is set in an 11 acre estate on the south-facing bank of the River Tenna.

Grounds
Currently the estate is a wildlife paradise for those interested in flowers, butterflies, moths and dragonflies. Eagles, hoepoes, kestrels and falcons are seem frequently and deer visit from time to time. Friendly geccos populate the environs of the house. There is a frog’s sanctuary in the water trough too. Guests retire to the sound of a myriad cicadas in summertime.

The views to the west are of the Sibillini Mountains, to the south of the hills with the Gran Sasso visible on clear days and down the valley to the east there are distant views of the hilltop towns of Monte San Martino, Smerillo and Santa Vittoria.

Larger towns nearby are the rural working town of Amandola (catering for your every need there are supermarkets, banks, a post office and dry cleaners, shops selling meat,  fish, pasta, hardware, lingerie and antiques and also a greengrocers and a florist). And don’t miss breakfast in the Gran Café Belli – a local institution. There is a hospital in Amandola too.

Sarnano is popular with tourists and there is a swimming pool at the Hotel Montanaria which members of the public can use for a small fee.

Also of interest are Ascoli Piceno, Marcerata and Loreto. Ancona is only an hour away with the beautiful bays at Conero and Sirolo. More distant are Assisi, Perugia, Urbino and Florence.