# Where Was Under the Tuscan Sun Filmed? Cortona Locations | Doorways > Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed in Cortona, Tuscany, with Positano for the Amalfi scenes. The filming locations, the house that played Bramasole, and how to visit. Source: https://villavacations.com/travel-guide/under-the-tuscan-sun-villa/ Travel Guide · On Screen # Where Was Under the Tuscan Sun Filmed? Cortona and the Story of Villa Laura [On Screen](https://villavacations.com/category/on-screen/) By Kit Burns · June 1, 2026 ![Where Was Under the Tuscan Sun Filmed? Cortona and the Story of Villa Laura](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/story-villa-laura-bramasole-under-tuscan-sun-hero-1.webp) *Under the [Tuscan](https://villavacations.com/destinations/tuscany/) Sun* made a crumbling [Cortona](https://villavacations.com/destinations/cortona/) farmhouse called Bramasole famous. The house you see in the 2003 film, starring Diane Lane, is [Villa Laura](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-laura/), an estate in the countryside seven minutes from Cortona. Today it is a fully restored ten-bedroom villa, and you can stay there: [rent Villa Laura, the Under the Tuscan Sun villa](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-laura/), for 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](https://villavacations.com/destinations/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](https://villavacations.com/destinations/amalfi-coast/) scenes were filmed in [Positano](https://villavacations.com/destinations/amalfi-coast/). ## 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 through Doorways as a whole estate for a week or more, for groups of up to twenty, with a pool, an olive grove and a private chef on request. Our one house rule: whoever books the villa gets the Diane Lane bedroom. Rates, photos, the bedroom layout and availability are on the [Villa Laura page](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-laura/). ## How the ruin became a luxury villa ![crumbling-villa-laura.jpg](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/story-villa-laura-bramasole-under-tuscan-sun-body-01-1024x539.webp) 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. ![under-construction-villa-laura.jpg](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/story-villa-laura-bramasole-under-tuscan-sun-body-02-1024x539.webp) 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. ![kit-and-nancy-cline-villa-owner.jpg](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/story-villa-laura-bramasole-under-tuscan-sun-body-03-1024x539.webp) 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 Cortona and Villa Laura Cortona is seven minutes by car and Lake Trasimeno about twenty. Perugia airport is 45 minutes away, [Florence](https://villavacations.com/destinations/florence/) airport about an hour and 35 minutes, and [Rome](https://villavacations.com/destinations/rome/) Fiumicino about two hours. From the villa, [Montepulciano](https://villavacations.com/destinations/siena/), [Pienza](https://villavacations.com/destinations/siena/), Montalcino and [Assisi](https://villavacations.com/destinations/umbria/) are all easy day trips. ## Join the adventure You can rent [Villa Laura from Under the Tuscan Sun](https://villavacations.com/villas/villa-laura/) 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](https://villavacations.com/destinations/cortona/). ## 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; rates and availability are on the Villa Laura page. **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. Stay in ## Hand-selected villas in *Cortona* ![Villa Laura](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/laura-02-estate-establishing-1024x683.jpg) Cortona ### Villa Laura 10 Beds·10.5 Baths·20 Guests ![Villa Ivana](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Villa-Ivana-hero-1024x1024.webp) Cortona ### Villa Ivana 9 Beds·12 Baths·18 Guests ![Villa Tullia](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Villa-Tullia-hero-1024x683.webp) Cortona ### Villa Tullia 6 Beds·5 Baths·12 Guests [Browse All Villas](https://villavacations.com/villas/?destination=Cortona) About the author ### Kit Burns Kit Burns is a contributing editor at Doorways. A long-time guidebook writer with deep ties across Italy, Kit covers the practical side of a villa week — the restaurants, the day trips, the places worth driving an hour for. He travels with a notebook, a paper map, and very little else. Travel Guide ## More *stories* ![Tour Villa Balbiano](https://villavacations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/balbiano-pool-lake-view-768x1024.jpg) On Screen · June 4, 2026 ### Tour Villa Balbiano On Screen · June 1, 2026 ### Rent the Villa from “The White Lotus” On Screen · June 1, 2026 ### Villa Laura Featured by Soft Surroundings --- Doorways Villa Vacations, Italian villa specialists since 1994. Book through a travel advisor: https://villavacations.com/contact-us/