Under the Tuscan Sun made a crumbling Cortona farmhouse called Bramasole famous. The house you see in the 2003 film, starring Diane Lane, is Villa Laura, an estate in the countryside seven minutes from Cortona. Today it is a fully restored ten-bedroom villa, and Doorways rents it to groups of up to twenty.
Where was Under the Tuscan Sun filmed?
Most of the film was shot in and around Cortona, the hill town in eastern Tuscany where Frances Mayes, who wrote the 1996 memoir the film is based on, bought her house. The town scenes were filmed in Cortona’s streets and piazzas. For Bramasole, the filmmakers used Villa Laura, a villa outside town. The Amalfi Coast scenes were filmed in Positano.
Is Villa Laura the real Bramasole?
Villa Laura is the house that plays Bramasole in the film. Frances Mayes’s own house, the Bramasole of the book, is a separate private home, also near Cortona. If you have seen the film, Villa Laura is the house you remember: the stone walls, the terraces and the view down the valley.
Can you stay at the Under the Tuscan Sun villa?
Yes. Villa Laura is rented as a whole estate for a minimum of one week, starting from €19,000 a week. It sleeps twenty in ten en-suite bedrooms across three buildings:
- The Villa, the main house, with five bedrooms, the kitchen, living and dining rooms, and the best of the views.
- The Farmhouse, once home to the farmworkers and animals, with four bedrooms and its own kitchen.
- The Limonaia, built to overwinter the estate’s lemon trees, now a one-bedroom suite for two.
Outside there is a swimming pool, a working olive grove, pergolas for long dinners and the gardens that grew up around the film shoot. A private chef, cooking classes and wine tastings can be arranged. Our one house rule: whoever books the villa gets the Diane Lane bedroom.
How the ruin became a luxury villa
In 2006, our founder, Kit Burns, received a call from a favorite client to say she had been offered a villa that was for sale near Cortona. She wondered if Kit might take a look at it on her next trip to Italy. Kit was just leaving for Tuscany, so she was able to visit almost immediately, and there the adventure began.
The family that owns Cline Cellars Winery in Sonoma, California, bought the property and spent the next years lovingly and painstakingly renovating the villa and its farmhouse. The original terracotta floors were lifted, cleaned and re-laid, the stone walls were kept, and local craftsmen built new kitchens and bathrooms in marble and travertine. Many of the fabrics come from Busatti, the family weavers in nearby Anghiari. Whenever Kit passed through the area, she stopped by to take photos and see how the work was progressing.
Finally, in June of 2010, the renovation was finished, and the family went to Italy to spend the summer. Kit visited them in late June to see the final results, and walked around the property with the owners, stars in their eyes.
Getting to Villa Laura
Cortona is seven minutes by car and Lake Trasimeno about twenty. Perugia airport is 45 minutes away, Florence airport about an hour and 35 minutes, and Rome Fiumicino about two hours. From the villa, Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino and Assisi are all easy day trips.
Join the adventure
You can rent Villa Laura from Under the Tuscan Sun through Doorways. It suits milestone birthdays, family reunions and weddings, and summer weeks book a year or more ahead. For more villas around the town, see our guide to Cortona villa rentals.
Frequently asked questions
Where was Under the Tuscan Sun filmed?
Mostly in and around Cortona, in eastern Tuscany. The house that plays Bramasole is Villa Laura, in the countryside seven minutes from Cortona, and the Amalfi Coast scenes were filmed in Positano.
Can you rent the house from Under the Tuscan Sun?
Yes. Villa Laura, the house used as Bramasole in the film, is rented through Doorways as a whole estate for a week or more. It sleeps twenty in ten en-suite bedrooms, from €19,000 a week.
Is Villa Laura the same as Frances Mayes's Bramasole?
No. Villa Laura is the house used in the film. Frances Mayes's own Bramasole, the house from her memoir, is a separate private home near Cortona.
How far is Villa Laura from Cortona?
About seven minutes by car. Lake Trasimeno is about twenty minutes away, Florence about an hour and 35 minutes and Rome Fiumicino airport about two hours.
