Villa Pia is not a bad place to spend a week. The blue-shuttered stone country manor sits in the shadow of a medieval castle in the hilltop village of Lippiano, on the Umbrian-Tuscan border. Once the summer escape of a Florentine family, the house features five acres of sloping grounds that look out across a patchwork of tobacco fields and chestnut trees backdropped by the Apennine Mountains.
Every autumn, it is home to creative retreats held by photographer and creative director Charlotte Bland and designer and author Ros Badger. The British duo, whose friendship was forged over Instagram a decade ago, have been hosting retreats at the villa since 2019, and their guests are drawn to the simple, nurturing cycle of daily life—eat, create, rest.
