The Doftana Valley from the air: forested hills around a green lake with a small wooded island, and the narrow plot of the house running from the road down to the shore.

Toscana in Doftana

A private lake house in the Doftana Valley, for family and friends.

The stay

Bring the people you love. Light the stove, wake up to the hills, eat outside every evening, open a bottle in the cellar under the lawn, and end the night around the fire.

A private gardenfrom the gate down to the lake

A wine cellarunder the lawn, by the pavilion

An outdoor kitchenwith one long table and a fire pit

Morning on the deck: a couple with coffee by the open glass doors, their son leaning on the railing.

Afternoon on the lawn: two children playing barefoot while their grandparents read in deck chairs.

A day here

Morning

Coffee on the deck, sun on the hills

The glass slides open, the first light comes over the valley, and nobody is in a hurry.

Afternoon

The lawn is all theirs

Children barefoot on the grass, grandparents in the shade, the whole garden to yourselves.

Evening

Everyone at one table

The grill going under the pavilion and three generations around one long table.

Night

Marshmallows by the fire

The fire pit sunk into the lawn, blankets on, and the house glowing behind you.

Arrive

Through the gate, and the week slows down

A family arriving: two children run ahead through the open gate while their parents follow with weekend bags.

The children are through the gate before the car is locked. Parking inside, an orchard path to the door, and the hills all around.

Private gate
Parking on the property
Orchard path to the house

The glass corner of the living room opening onto the lawn in the evening light.

The house

Glass walls, golden light

A long, low house in larch and glass, with a deck facing the valley.

The living room

Open to the lawn

Slide the glass back and the house and the garden become one room.

The living room: a cast-iron wood stove burning in a plastered chimney breast, a deep linen sofa, wool rug and stacked firewood, glass walls to the garden.

Morning in the kitchen: a father making pancakes at the sage-green island while two children in pyjamas help.

The open living space under the timber beams: a long oak table set for ten by the stove, glass walls to the trees.

Evening by the stove: a father and two boys playing a wooden board game on the rug while the mother and daughter read on the sofa.

Inside

Timber, glass and a real fire

Spruce beams overhead, oak underfoot, and a cast-iron stove that warms the whole room.

The kitchen

Pancakes for everyone

A full kitchen in sage green, with an island big enough for the whole family to help.

The table

Room for ten

One long table between the stove and the garden, for the days you eat inside.

Evenings in

Board games by the fire

When it rains in the valley, nobody minds.

The rooms

Sleep among the trees

One of the two main bedrooms: a low oak bed in white and oatmeal linen, glass walls on two sides looking into the forest.

The children's room: two oak single beds in linen, a window seat with cushions and wooden toys on the floor.

One of the two bathrooms: glossy teal tiles, a rain shower behind glass, a rustic oak vanity with a black tap and folded white towels.

The kitchen styled: sage-green cabinets with brass handles, white worktops, a bowl of lemons and fresh bread on the island.

Two main bedroomsGlass on two sides, the forest outside, linen and wool.

The children's roomTwo beds, a window seat and a box of wooden toys.

Two bathroomsTeal tiles, rain showers and vanities in old oak.

The kitchenSage green, brass and stone, with a patterned tile floor.

Evenings

Dinner outside, every night

Four friends raising glasses of red wine at the table under the pavilion, laughing, with the sun setting behind them.

From above: hands reaching across the long wooden table for grilled vegetables, bread, cheese and red wine.

The whole family at the long table under the pavilion while the grill smokes.

The pavilion is the heart of the garden: cook together, eat together, and stay at the table until the sun is gone.

Outdoor kitchen and grill
One long table for everyone
Sunken fire pit with seating

Dusk at the pavilion: a couple walks down the stone path into the glowing arched cellar entrance built into the grass mound beside the barbecue counter.

A woman walks down narrow stone steps into the earth, her hand on the wall, lanterns lighting the way.

The vaulted stone wine cellar: oak racks of bottles, barrels and a long tasting table lit by candles.

Four friends at the cellar table, one pouring red wine, everyone laughing in the candlelight.

The wine cellar

A door in the hill

Beside the barbecue counter, a path drops away from the garden and into the hill.

Going down

Step into the cool

Stone steps and lantern light, a little cooler with every step.

Below the lawn

Racks, barrels, candles

A vaulted room for the wine and a long table for tasting it.

Later that night

One more bottle

The best conversations of the trip happen down here.

Straight down from above: a clear kayak on the turquoise lake, a little girl between her two paddling parents.

The lake

Turquoise water, all morning

Paddle out from the shore and look down: the water is clear enough to see the stones below.

Early morning: a woman on a paddle board on the still turquoise lake, mist over the forested hills.

A mother and her daughter walk down the forest steps toward the lake, towels over their shoulders.

At the end of the garden, steps lead down through the trees to the water. Mist in the morning, a paddle before breakfast, the last light on the hills.

A path through the trees to the shore · A place to sit halfway down

The small wooden dock at the shore, ready and waiting: fishing rods in a rack, a tackle box, a cooler, folded towels and two chairs, a clear kayak tied alongside.

The dock

Everything is ready

Rods in the rack, the cooler filled, the clear kayak tied up. All that is missing is you.

The same afternoon

Three generations, one dock

Feet in the water, lines out, and nobody counting the fish.

Night

Around the fire

Blue hour: family and friends wrapped in blankets on the cushions around the sunken fire pit, glasses of wine, the pavilion behind them.

When dinner is done, everyone carries their glass to the fire pit, and the hills go dark one by one.

Sunken fire pit for the whole group
Cushions and blankets
The house lit up behind you

Close up over the fire pit: four hands in wool sleeves raise glasses of red wine and clink them, sparks rising behind.

A little girl wrapped in a knit blanket smiles as she holds a marshmallow on a long stick over the flames, the pavilion lit behind her.

A grandfather pours whisky from a cut-crystal decanter into his son's glass, both holding cigars and smiling by the fire.

Closer

Noroc

The first glass, raised over the fire.

Closer

Golden, not burnt

Some things take patience.

Closer

One more pour

The good bottle comes out after the children are asleep.

Your hosts

Made for being together

We built this house for our own family: one long table, a fire that keeps going late, a cellar for the good bottles and the lake at the end of the garden. Now we open it to yours.

Choose your dates

Pencil portrait of Viki and Agiv, smiling side by side. — Viki and Agiv have spent years collecting moments from around the world: long dinners in Tuscany, mountain mornings, lake houses where strangers became friends. Toscana in Doftana is where they bring it all home. It is the dream they finally built, and they host the way they love to be hosted, with care, good wine and time for every guest.
With love, see you by the fire, Viki & Agiv

Signed, the Agiv Family — Viki and Agiv have spent years collecting moments from around the world: long dinners in Tuscany, mountain mornings, lake houses where strangers became friends. Toscana in Doftana is where they bring it all home. It is the dream they finally built, and they host the way they love to be hosted, with care, good wine and time for every guest.
With love, see you by the fire, Viki & Agiv