Interior Inspiration: a family home turned painting retreat in the rolling Tuscan hills
Villa Arniano, a traditional 18th century stone-and-brick farmhouse outside Montalcino, in Tuscany, had seen better days when newlyweds Jasper and Camilla Guinness purchased it in the mid-1980s. The grounds were barren, and the house lacked even basic utilities. Luckily for the future of the estate, the couple saw potential in its high ceilings, spacious interiors, and views over the Tuscan hillsides, and they got to work transforming the property into the inviting family escape it is today.
For Camilla, one could say that the creative spirit needed to take on this sort of endeavor runs in her blood. Her sister is the much-praised interior designer, Rose Uniacke and her mother, Sally Uniacke, had been an artist and fashion designer until her untimely death in a car accident when Camilla was just nine years old. Camilla remembers a childhood before the accident, a happier time spent watching her mother work. She remembers seeing her designs take shape from concept drawings to fully wearable garments, and it’s clear how this early exposure to her mother’s creative process informed her sense of texture, form, and fabric, which she would later apply to her own interiors projects.
However, as any child would, Camilla had a difficult time adjusting to the loss of her mother at such a young age. At 16, she was expelled from school, had trouble choosing a direction, attempted finishing school, learned to cook, used this skill to facilitate working and traveling around the United States and Europe for a time, and eventually landed in a furniture restoration course in Florence. It was here that she met her future husband, Jasper Guinness, the son of Irish brewing heir Jonathan Guinness, and the couple married in 1985 and decided to settle in Italy to start their family. Their daughters, Amber and Claudia, both of whom inherited their mother’s creative gene, spent their childhoods at Villa Arniano as their parents worked to make it a home.
While Jasper oversaw the garden plans, Camilla turned her attention to the interior. She began the renovations with the essentials: she had the original stone and tile floors repaired throughout the house, she had utilities added, she had the walls white-washed, and she had fireplaces built in for heat. She outfitted the kitchen, keeping the design simple and true-to-form for a Tuscan farmhouse. Wide open shelving was hung the length of the wall over the
rustic wood and marble countertops. Under-counter storage is concealed with a simple, functional linen curtain. A Tuscan tile backsplash and painted serve ware on display over the wood-fired oven inject just a bit of pattern to play against the natural wood, stone and wicker found throughout the room. The result is welcoming; we can only imagine how many family dinners have been prepared here over the years.
The kitchen opens to the main living area; Camilla had a wall removed to keep the ground level of the home feeling spacious. We find soft shapes throughout: a curved plaster stair rail in the main entrance, an arched bookcase in the sitting room, sloping wrought iron canopy beds designed by Camilla herself in most of the bedrooms. (She also designed the daybeds in the garden). This softness evokes the rolling hills of the surrounding landscape and fresco-style murals of cypress trees set against characteristic Tuscan hillsides by artist Virginia Loughnan, further invite the outside into one of the bedrooms. Vibrant accents of color and pattern, like the red striped curtains in a guest bedroom, a similar stripe covering the garden daybeds, or a Moroccan Boucherouite rug in the living area add playfulness to the otherwise natural space, reminds us that this is as much a lively family home as it is a countryside getaway.
When Amber and Claudia were of high school age, the family relocated to England, but they kept the villa. Sadly, Jasper passed away from cancer in 2011, and Amber, in wanting to revisit her childhood home and the memory of her father through his gardens, returned to Villa Arniano. She came with her best friend and artist, William Roper-Curzon, to found Arniano Painting School, a dreamy artists retreat where William teaches painting classes inspired by the Tuscan landscape and Amber cooks regional cuisine out of the very kitchen she grew up in. Claudia became a photographer and assistant creative producer and is now based in London, but she visits Arniano annually.
SHOP THE SPACE
Words by Kristin Hood and photos by Robyn Lea.
