Contrada San Giovanni · Smerillo
We searched for a year to find this place — a 100-year-old farmhouse perched at 500 metres above the Tenna valley. We wanted somewhere to hold the people we love, with long summer evenings on the veranda, extraordinary food on the doorstep, and that rare feeling of being somewhere utterly real.
Step onto the back terrace and the Marche opens before you — the Sibillini peaks to one side, the Adriatic on the horizon to the other, a procession of hilltop villages between. The neighbours are genuine. The truffles grow on the hill behind. The osteria five minutes away has been there for decades.
Think of it as Tuscany, but without the tourists. Umbria, but with seafood. This is the Italy that still belongs to the Italians — and for a week, it belongs to you.
The stone walls are a metre thick. Built over a hundred years ago as a working family farmhouse, you can feel the solidity and history throughout. We have kept that character while adding everything a modern family needs.
Four bedrooms sleeping up to eight. Two bathrooms. Two generous living rooms flowing into each other through stone archways. A large Italian kitchen that looks out over the valley through four windows — you will cook differently in a kitchen with a view like that.
Full interior gallery on our Airbnb listing
Covered stone terrace at golden hour. Upper terrace facing the Sibillini with the lake below. Weber charcoal BBQ for long evenings outside.
A pool on the upper terrace in summer. The lake is five minutes down the road for a cooler dip at any time.
Fast satellite internet throughout. No password needed. Works even at 500 metres in the hills.
Large kitchen with terracotta floors and four windows overlooking the valley. De'Longhi machine — great with the local Romcaffè beans — for mornings on the terrace.
For evenings when the view is not quite enough. IPTV with Italian and international channels also available.
Lock box entry, arrive at your own pace. House manager Michele is ten minutes away for anything you need.
"Once you come up the drive you don't realise the magnificent backdrop until you're on the back terrace. On a clear day you see the Adriatic sparkle in the distance and all those evocative little villages. It's raw, it's real."
Terrapremiata (20 min) · Dezi in Servigliano · Velenosi in Ascoli Piceno. Or DUM supermarket in Falerone — the best local selection in the valley.
Fresh pasta, truffles from the hill behind, olive oil from three kilometres away, fish brought up from the Adriatic each morning.
Markets every day within 30 minutes. Servigliano on Sunday, Fermo on Thursday, Amandola on Saturday. Local producers, unhurried.
Most guests come in summer. The Adriatic is 45 minutes. The lake is five. Here is what fills the days.
Also nearby:
Hiking the Sibillini national park · Piano Grande
Gola dell'Infernaccio · Rafting on the Nera (45 min)
Skiing · Frasassi caves
Within an hour in any direction: hilltop towns unchanged in five centuries, cities with world-class piazzas, and a coast most Italians keep to themselves.
The calendar below gives an overview. For confirmed availability and booking, visit our Airbnb listing.
For confirmed bookings: view on Airbnb
We love welcoming families, couples, groups of friends who want to eat well, explore properly, and slow down completely.
Book through Airbnb for live availability and secure payment. For longer stays, groups, or direct enquiries, write to us. We reply the same day.
All platforms show live availability · Direct bookings welcome — same price, no fees
Minimum 4 nights in peak season · Short breaks in spring and autumn · Winter by arrangement
Fermo province, Le Marche — above the Tenna valley, Sibillini National Park to the west, Adriatic to the east.
