Trullo, Puglia - Italian Villa Vacations

A traditional cone shaped house

The Trullo is easily the most unusual rental in all of Italy. Farmers built their houses in this unique fashion 2 -3 centuries ago. It became the style of the time in the Itria Valley of Puglia and maybe 1000 or so were built. At least that's all that are left standing today, with just a handful renovated and only one for rent...this one.

The owner, a lovely French woman, has restored her TRULLO with excellent taste and furnished it with comfort, antiques and just the right stuff including a very nicely outfitted kitchen. It consists of four bedrooms and three bathrooms and a large swimming pool.

Farmers built their houses in this unique fashion 2 -3 centuries ago. It became the style of the time in the Itria Valley of Puglia and maybe 1000 or so were built. At least that's all that are left standing today, with just a handful renovated and only one for rent...this one.

The owner, a lovely French woman, has restored her TRULLO with excellent taste and furnished it with comfort, antiques and just the right stuff including a very nicely outfitted kitchen.

There are a few interesting things we would like to point out before we talk about the insides and touring. First, it is made from the local stone. The walls are more than a meter thick to protect against the elements and there are no doors inside, only columns of stone and curtains separating the rooms (with the exception to the bathrooms where there are doors for privacy). Every year the people from this region white wash their houses up to the roof creating the look here, a white stucco with grey stone roof. The Trullo was the 17th - 19th century farmer's home. The houses with their tall conic tops and white round bases look like tiny feudal towers. The effect is a countryside of small white castles poking out from a thick of olive trees. Trulli served as the residence and barn during the winter, and as a residence and granary during the summer. At that time it was common for the farming family to live with the animals under the same roof. On the roof top where each of the cone shaped roofs are capped with hand carved ornaments, there is always at least one stone "vada." A stone "cow" fertility symbol where the udders are four square stones coming down. All the ornaments are shaped by hand from the field stone here.

Our TRULLO sleeps ten people in total.

There is a living room, a dining room and kitchen in the conical house and in the LAMIA (the dammuso looking house beside it) there is a small kitchen / dining as well. TV, (not satellite) – VCR – Cd Player.

Bedrooms and bathrooms:

The TRULLO has a double bedroom and bathroom. The LAMIA has one twin, one bedroom with 2 bunk beds (sleeps 4) and one bathroom shared, and the adjoining LAMIA has a twin bedroom and bathroom. All bathrooms have a tub with handheld shower. There is a dishwasher, oven, espresso machine, and one of the LAMIA bathroom also has a laundry. There is also a BBQ outside with the covered patio. Very important: pool! The ground around it is a work in progress. It is seeded and planted with roses, lavender, olive and apricot trees. Rental comes with a maid - 3 hours 2 days per week, and grounds keeper that tends to the dirt, pool and (importantly) cistern - 2 hours 3 days per week.

Notes of warning:

1) Water. Rare, rare, rare. There is enough water for you and your vacation, but it is a commodity you can not take for granted. This area has loads of blue sky and very little rain. The owner and us ask the following of you: Be very sparing of your use of water when staying here. Do not let faucets flow. Be smart and economic of your water use and think of this as your house.

2) Alarm System: You are perfectly safe here, but if you leave the house unattended - even for 5 minutes - you must turn the alarm system on. At night when you sleep, all things must be brought inside.

THE AREA

The beaches (both rock and sand) of the Adriatic are not far from here, there are hill towns to discover in the valley and nearby mountains. The Itria valley where this unique house sits is a surprisingly fertile area. The olive trees and vineyards yield an abundance of fruit, and the sun and rich red earth yield much fresh produce. One of the things that is fabulous about Puglia is the inexpensive, enormous portions at the restaurants. An enormous meal with a couple of bottles of wine at a private table in a stone piazza may set you back 1500 euros. This region had a unique and powerful position of Italy during the 13th century when the great Federico II, King of Sicily (which included this region at the time) and Emperor of Germany turned Puglia into a grain powerhouse. Alfalfa, wheat and other life sustaining grains came from here and proved to be an economic machine. Soon after fortified hill towns began appearing and later Baroque castles were raised. All these places make this an interesting region to visit. Perhaps best yet, because tourism is not.....developed here (although more affluent Italians are making this area their vacation home), you feel like you are the first to discover this place. This is a unique visit among Italians far from the museum lines of Florence. There is an alimentary 800 meters down the road and the charming white washed baroque village of Cisternino is 6 km away, where every weekend night the piazza has live jazz. A weird thing to come across in this rural, southern region. But the jazz is supposed to be excellent.

DISTANCES

• Cisterino 6 km
• Bari 70 km
• Brindisi 40 km
• Beaches on the Adriatic 30 km (excellent diving in the area)
• Regional airports in Bari and Brindisi. A one hour flight from Rome.
• Driving - From Naples 4 hours. From Rome 7 hours. From Milan 11 hours.

Pricing

* Prices are quoted in Euros and calculated according to the CBA selling rate. Prices are subject to change in AUD due to currency flucuations. (Currency converter)

Pricing Notes

 Final cleaning 100 Euro
- Maid service 3 hours on Tuesday. For stays of more than one week, an additional 3 hours of housekeeping and change of linen and towels on Saturday.
Gardener 2 hours 3 times a week except Sunday and holidays. 
- Baby bed available Euro 100
- Linen: For stays of more than one week, an additional 3 hours of housekeeping and change of linen and towels on Saturday.
- Extra bed not available
- Telephone not available
- Internet access not available

 - Pets not allowed
- Heating not included. Gas metered (5 Euro per m3). The gas is used to reheat the hot water.
Water not included (5 Euro per m3).    - Pool opening dates May 23 – September 26
- Pool towels not available    Security deposit Euro 1000 in full on arrival mandatory.
Utility deposit for Gas and Water 250 Euro
Special notes and restrictions:
Please note that now the Trullo sleeps 10 people. One of the twin bedroom was replaced with a room with 2 bunk beds ( 4 beds ).
- Late Arrival not possible.

Availability