History – to quote the playwright Alan Bennett, minus the expletive – is just one thing after another. And buying a historical property can sometimes feel the same way. What you gain in charm and character, you pay for through the travails of renovation, repairs and general upkeep, which is made even harder if you are a long-distance owner without the know-how or network to get things done easily.

What high-net-worth buyers want is history without the hassle. Ideally a home that, externally, retains its architectural integrity and comes with a colorful story, but inside functions with modern efficiency. They want a Renaissance masterpiece where Dante once dined or Michelangelo moped (he was, after all, reputed to be a rather solitary character), but with underground parking and a heated pool.

That’s particularly true for affluent buyers in Italy, who are drawn to the country’s culture, heritage and architecture, which often leads them to Florence. But they love nothing more than a beautiful borgo or palazzo where someone else has already done the hard work. Where all you have to do is turn up, uncork the Barolo and live like a Medici.

Spearheading demand for this kind of lock-up-and-leave luxury was Palazzo Tornabuoni, a 15th-century palace in central Florence that was the decadently designed, art-filled home of a 16th-century pope before – fast forward to 15 years ago – it was turned into no-less opulent residences whose owners belong to Tornabuoni’s private members’ club, enjoying the apogee of the urban Tuscan idyll.

Tuscany is a region that is 96% rural, however, and its countryside is home to great wealth. Like centuries of Florentine financiers or silk merchants before them, many of today’s affluent buyers gravitate to the hills surrounding the city – to areas such as Sesto Fiorentino, a small, ceramic-producing town (and home, as it happens, to Pinocchio in the story) where you can soak up space and nature and still be at the Uffizi within half an hour. Or, for that matter, in Pisa, Siena or lounging on Forte dei Marmi’s golden sands within 1hr 15.

Among these hills sits Villa Rinascimento, a building that dates back to the 1400s and, as home to some of Florence’s most powerful dynasties, including the Capponi family, was inextricably linked to the city’s fortune and legend, before becoming a convent. Each occupant has extended and redeveloped the villa to suit their needs over the eras, the Capponis adding the decorative graffito and trompe l’oeil nymph that graces its façade.

Now in its latest incarnation, after a two-year renovation that has seen frescoes, stucco and stone-work hand-painted and crafted back to perfection, Villa Rinascimento has re-opened its doors as 14 private apartments – including a two-story, two-bedroom residence for sale through Building Heritage for €1.65 million (~US$1.8 million).

The past is present at every turn, from the ornate cornicing to painted angels dancing on the ceiling, and modern-day luxuries have been added to the mix, including a Technogym-equipped fitness room and spa, heated indoor and outdoor pools and a wine cellar with ensuite tasting room.

Affluent buyers love nothing more than a beautiful borgo or palazzo where someone else has already done the hard work.
Where all you have to do is turn up, uncork the Barolo and live like a Medici.

You can wander among gardens designed in the 16th century with traditional Tuscan attention to geometrical symmetry, and gaze across the estate’s 10 hectares of parkland, whose olive groves and vineyards that have kept past owners in olio and vino for centuries. But you can also relish the ease of being able to enter your private apartment that’s powered by smart-home technology.

Buyers so far have come from the US, Italy and Holland, and for them the joy lies in being able to own a piece of Tuscany’s history, but without the bureaucratic headaches it can entail if you take on a renovation yourself. “This concept of condo living near the center of Florence, but amidst nature, where you have your own pool and garden, is hugely appealing. It makes life easy,” comments listing agent Ilaria Mugnaini from Building Heritage. “You can just open the door, unpack your luggage, and there’s nothing else to worry about.”

Nearby, on the Fiesole hills 10 minutes north of central Florence, Villa Belvedere similarly offers buyers of the eight units, priced from €1.8 million to €3.8 million, the combination of historical character and modern luxury – where your high-tech fitness space comes with restored barrel-vaulted ceilings and where you can have original frescoes AND a walk-in wardrobe.  

With AirBnB or other tourist rental properties now banned in central Florence, demand for this melange of historical and modern will invariably spread to the city’s handy hinterland and to the likes of Villas Rinascimento and Belvedere. And for overseas buyers, it’s a way to enjoy genuine Tuscan heritage with all the convenience of a new-build home.

A property with a Renaissance pedigree, perfect plumbing and a plunge pool? Now that may well be a modern Tuscan masterpiece.  

Ilaria Mugnaini of Building Heritage holds the listing for the renovated apartment in Villa Rinascimento.