FARM HOLIDAYS Il Carbonaio

FARM HOLIDAYS Il Carbonaio, , Elmo di Sorano

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Il Carbonaio is a Holiday Farm located in Tuscany in the upper Maremma area. In the heart of the land of the Etruscans, in the middle of the Archaeological Park of the Città del Tufo (Pitigliano, Sorano, Sovana).

It is immersed in the greenery of a farm of approximately 100 hectares of land  where Massese sheep, bovines and swine are freely bred. Olive trees, vineyards, chestnut trees, grain and fodder for the farm are also grown on the land. It has been observing an integrated and assisted agriculture for years in accordance to the ECC 2078-93 (Biological Regulation) on all its activities. Sports activities related to the training of hunting dogs also take place here.

The farmhouse used for our Holiday Farm dates back to the end of the 19th century and gets its name “Carbonaio” (Coal maker) from the commercial activity prevalent in this location during the first half of the 20th century: the preparation of coal from Heather wood. It is most likely that this homestead was the meeting place or a base for the numerous coal workers in the flourishing heather woods surrounding the estate.

Its recent renovation deliberately left interior walls intact as well as the doors and windows, including the large arches made of tuff , all of which that beautify the décor (in solid wood from the early 20th century) with the natural beauty of stone walls out of tuff.

The “CARBONAIO” farm is surrounded by a completely enclosed, spacious garden and decorated with many plants and flowers and several tuff sculptures created by the owner.    

The garden is embellished with wood tables and benches, artistic grilles and fountains built in the style of the ancient farmhouse that hosts the three flats out of tuff and brick, a corner of the garden also hosts a small museum of old agricultural tools once used on the farm.

Our guests can enjoy marvelous moments of total peace and relaxation in the shade of oak and walnut trees immersed in the beauty of our flowers and fig trees.

The structure of this holiday farm is separated into three individual flats. We can sleep up to 12 guests. Each flat includes a kitchenette with refrigerator, washer, iron; featuring a fireplace and heating as well.

 “La Carraia” (carts passage way)

The flat is located on the ground floor and is made up of a living room with kitchenette, bath and bedroom with door to the garden.

“La Caciaia” (where the cheese was once aged)

The flat is on two floors (ground and first floor) and is made up of a living room on the ground floor with two entrances, on both ends of the farmhouse, bath and linen closet. On the first floor, there are two bedrooms: 1 can sleep three and the other is a master bedroom with fireplace and the second bathroom.

“Il Caminetto” (the little fireplace)

The flat is on two floors (ground and first floor) and is made up of a living room on the ground floor and bathroom. On the upper floor there are two bedrooms (both sleep 2) and the second bathroom.

Our productions:

The Carbonaio Holiday Farm is a farm that is prevalently focused on animal husbandry. Our guests can tour the farm and the free breeding of: bovines (in particular the pezzata rossa- red spotted breed), sheep (in particular the razza Massese – a local breed) and swine (among which, in particular the cinta senese breed from the province of Siena).

Extensive Agriculture: the agricultural land is principally used to feed our animals: oats and clover in the Autumn and Winter and sorghum and saggina  (a grain similar to sorghum) in the Summer and many fields. Several hectares are used for the production of grains – barley and oats for the most part – harvested in July for exclusive farm use.

Intensive Agriculture: Our guests can also tour the vineyards: red and white grapes (D.O.C. production of  Rosso di Sovana red wine and Bianco di Pitigliano white), olive and chestnut trees (D.O.C. marrone chestnut of Monte Amiata); typical products of the hilly Tuscan area in which we are located.  

Our woods:

Our farm has a wealth of greenery. In fact, much of the land is covered by woods. The approximately 40 hectares of “brush” (this is the name given to the woods in our area) present on our farm are covered for the most part by oak trees and heather; ash, wild hazel and white and black birch trees grow along the river. Chestnut and Beechnut trees grow in a specific area called Chestnut Valley. Most of the winter months are dedicated to wood cutting: most of which is sold as firewood (for heating and fireplaces) but the more prestigious chestnut wood is sold to sawmills.

Deforestation is done as a team: two people attend to cutting and sectioning the plants and two or three others attend to the clean-up of the branches  immediately afterwards, gathering them in small heaps (an operation called “arramicciatura” – branch collecting). This method allows for a production of up to 50 cubic metres of wood per work day (to give you a better idea of the amount of 50 cubic metres: it is equivalent to a truckload).

After that, the small heaps of wood are brought out of the woods and loaded onto the truck: this place has a specific name: “Imposto” (arrangement post) while the entire operation is named “smacchiatura” (clean-up) that is now done with tractors with the exception of those hard to reach locations. In this case, mules are used in the same manner in which the operation was carried out until the 1970’s.