Monday 7 April, 2008

Villa Gordon is an ideal Italian holiday villa rental base for the Dolomites and the Veneto regions. It is a large house set in generous grounds, making it well suited for family and group holidays. This part of Italy offers walking, lake swimming, fishing or white water rafting, as well as many cultural attractions: Palladian villas, medieval castles and churches, wine tours and the heritage of the First World War. It can sleep 15 very comfortably.

Bookings for Summer 2008 are advanced, though there are still gaps in May, June and July. I have updated the bookings calendar to allow for less rigid bookings. Please go to the Dates and Details page for latest information. NB it is possible to do long weekend bookings, which tend to be popular before the main holiday season.

The house was built as a hunting lodge in 1906 by the Austrian Admiral Baron von Gerlach and his Venetian wife the Contessa Albrizzi. The furnishings and reception rooms are comfortable and generously sized. Round the house there is a wide verandah: ideal for drinks and meals, enjoying a view of the valley over pasture and orchard, surrounded by a screen of woodland. Click here to view the house interior.

Bird's eye view

Maps

The house stands just outside the spa village of Roncegno, perched at 500 metres on the side of the Valsugana and overlooked by the graceful slopes of Mount Fravort (2340m). At the bottom of the valley the river Brenta flows past on its way to the Venetian lagoon; you could arguably describe Villa Gordon as a "villa on the Brenta"!

Roncegno has all the facilities you will need on a day-to-day basis: bakery, grocers, greengrocers and butchers, newsagents, post-office (with fax machine facilities) and bank, with a 'hole-in-the-wall' cash dispenser. This is all within a ten minute walk from the house.

Roncegno enjoys a lovely position, with striking views down over the valley, castles and the market town of Borgo below in the distance. The simple 18th century parish church has a delightfully decorated organ and an altarpiece by Francesco Guardi. A major feature of the village is the Palace Hotel, a grand spa establishment with frescoed ball room and dining rooms, and terraces commanding a fine view over its park to the mountains beyond. It runs carefully designed health cures and has health club facilities (saunas, therapeutic baths, massage etc) which non-residents can use. There is also an open air swimming pool in its park, five minutes walk from the house and also open to non-residents.

For night life, the facilities are modest: a 'birreria' bar with juke boxes and football machines which will appeal to the young, and a pizzeria, pizzas of an excellent quality baked by the traditional method in a wood-fired bread oven. The pizzeria offers a 'take-away' service.