La Foce
A Tuscan Utopia
La Foce, located in Tuscany’s Val d'Orcia, is today one of Italy's most sumptuous gardens. COURTESY OF LA FOCE
The estate of La Foce, located in the heart of Tuscany, is a beautiful testament to the creativity and passion of its creator, the British-born writer and historian, Iris Origo.
Iris created La Foce as a refuge from the pressures of her busy life, and today it remains a tranquil oasis in the heart of Tuscany, where visitors can experience what is now considered one of Italy’s most beautiful private gardens.
Iris Origo was born in London in 1902 and grew up in the United States. She was a talented writer and historian, and her work reflects her deep love for Italy and her appreciation for its rich cultural heritage. In the 1920s, she met and married Antonio Origo, a minor Italian aristocrat who hungered to modernise agricultural practices and rural life. The couple soon moved to Italy, where they made their home at La Foce – a 7000-acre estate located south of Siena in the then barren clay hills (“crete senesi”) of Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia.
The once barren clay hills of La Foce estate in Tuscany’s Val d’Orcia. COURTESY OF LA FOCE
Originally built at the end of the 15th century as a wayside tavern, La Foce soon became the centre of a vast estate owned by the great Siennese Hospital and Monastery of Santa Maria della Scala. Owing to wars and pestilence, the estate – and indeed all Val d'Orcia – was in extreme poverty and mainly abandoned when purchased by the pair in 1924. From here they farmed and developed the land, bringing prosperity and social progress to the farmers. Formidable characters, the Origos put themselves at great personal risk during the Second World War by sheltering orphaned and refugee children, partisans, Italian Jews and escaped Allied prisoners of war.
Farmers working the land at La Foce. COURTESY OF LA FOCE
In the years that followed their acquisition of the estate, Iris devoted herself to the restoration and beautification of La Foce and its grounds. A true visionary, the garden became a focal point for Iris. Her mother, Lady Sybil Cutting, had married architectural historian Geoffrey Scott, the business partner of English garden designer Cecil Pinsent. Pinsent revolutionised Italian landscape design after World War I, particularly around Florence. His designs reflected classical principles and proportions, with hard lines and careful hedging, but also accounted for the site’s specificities, from water scarcity to panoramic views. While Pinsent had no formal training, his keen aesthetic sense and close relationship with Florence’s Anglo-American intelligentsia – most significantly, art historian Bernard Berenson at Villa I Tatti – meant that he was perfectly placed to create remarkable works. Iris’s connection to Cecil would prove transformative for La Foce.
The legacy of La Foce remains intertwined with its rich history. COURTESY OF LA FOCE
The result of Cecil and Iris’ collaboration is one of Italy’s most glorious gardens. The garden grew gradually, between 1925 and 1939. La Foce had poor soil and little water. It is exposed in winter and bakes at the height of summer. Iris could dedicate only a discrete amount of money to the project – the lion’s share of her inheritance was invested in agricultural work. But at La Foce a grand scale is achieved simply: terracing and structured hedges – ranging from chest-height to low parterres – create Pinsent’s beloved “garden rooms”. The garden extends along ridges overlooking the Val d’Orcia, with a postcard Tuscan view of rolling hillsides of wheat and poppies.
Views across the Val d’Orcia from La Foce. COURTESY OF LA FOCE
Iris took an active role, insisting that Pinsent focus on two dimensions: colour and scent. The English plantings she favoured in the upper, private section of the garden – lupins, phlox, delphinium, hollyhocks – aren’t entirely adapted to the weather of southern Tuscany. But interspersed with Mediterranean plants – from lavender to peony roses – their overwhelming effect is abundant, romantic and aromatic.
The landscaped gardens at La Foce are today considered one of Cecil Pinsent's greatest creations. COURTESY OF LA FOCE
The villa is surrounded by the formal Italian garden, which is divided into these geometrical ‘rooms’ by box hedges with lemon trees in terracotta pots. Travertine stairs lead to the rose garden and a winding wisteria-covered pergola bordered by lavender hedge.
Citrus plants sit proudly in their heavy terracotta planters as vibrant wisteria makes its way through the garden. COURTESY OF LA FOCE
Gentle informal terraces climb up the hill, where cherry trees, pines and cypresses grow among wild broom, thyme and rosemary, and a long cypress avenue leads to a 17th-century stone statue. Through the wood, a path joins the garden and the family cemetery, considered one of Pinsent's best creations,where Iris and Antonio are buried alongside their son Gianni who died very young.
La Foce's historic Limonaia, a greenhouse for citrus plants, now set behind the Villa’s pool. COURTESY OF LA FOCE
Strolling under the wisteria walk, looking across the valley to a cypress-lined hill path, and breathing in the warm scents of a Tuscan spring draws the visitor into the heart of Pinsent’s creation and forges a strong connection with Iris, whose vibrant personality lives on in her beloved garden.
Iris in her garden. COURTESY OF LA FOCE
Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the villa at La Foce is open to the public (strictly guided tours) and visitors can enjoy a glimpse into the life and work of one of Italy's most talented writers and historians. And while we sit and reflect on this enormous effort to convert a dilapidated historic estate into one of Italy’s most sumptuous countryside villas, you can leaf through Iris Origo’s deeply moving memoirs – War in the Val d’Orcia and A Chill in the Air – in which she recalls the “unending stream of human suffering” that transformed their rural Utopia.
Italian cypress trees line the zig zagging road that climbs the hillside opposite to La Foce.
Enjoy a guided visit of La Foce…
On our Umbria and Southern Tuscany tour this year. With departures in both May & September, we tour this region of Italy in depth, from its Etruscan and Roman past through medieval glory and on to the masterpieces of the High Renaissance. With three and four-night stays in Spoleto, Perugia, Cortona and Pienza, you can enjoy the best this region has to offer in the relaxing manner it deserves.
