About Le Gupole

House & terrace viewed from near the pool entrance (2007)

The 'little house' - this was originally a chicken shed. Upstairs it is now Gail's hideaway and downstairs, David's computer room - and often Daniel's bedroom when he wants to escape other guests! (2007)

The pool and surrounding garden in 2004

and in 2007

The Hanging Gardens of Gupole in 2004 - before they were hanging,

and in 2007

Pool entrance in 2003

and in 2008

Le Gupole is the name of our house in the hills about half an hour south of Arezzo in Tuscany. We bought the place back in 1990, when Zo was 17, Ben 15, Lea 13 and Daniel 12. The aim was firstly to have a place to spend the summer holidays away from Hong Kong and secondly to develop it with a view to eventually retiring there. The place was very different in those days - no electricity, water from a spring that needed to be pumped every three or four days to a tank on a terrace above the house, no telephone, rudimentary furniture that came with the house and an access road that every time it rained became a real challenge.

The house came with three acres of land that comprised a vineyard and a number of old fruit trees, all on the same level as the house. On the two terraces above the house were more very young fruit trees, mainly apple, some ancient olives and plenty of space.

That first summer we spent there, apart from exploring the surrounding areas and looking for somewhere to swim for the kids- it was a hot summer - we spent most of the time doing first aid on the house and took little notice of the land. I'll put some old photos of the house up on this page when we return to Gupole in the spring of 2009 - don't have them with me at the moment. In the meantime, the photos on the right are as it is now, well after the renovation we undertook from 2001 - 2003.

Things changed through the 90s - rudimentary wiring and a borrowed generator in 91, proper electricity and the phone in 92, a bathroom conversion with electric water heater in 92, an unsatisfactory first renovation to enlarge the living room by converting a shed that was in the main body of the house in 93, an unsatisfactory central heating system fired by diesel around the same time, two home-made stone terraces constructed in the summer of 93 and 94.

Attempts were made to tame the garden every year, since during our long absences it made every effort to return to nature - absence makes the weeds grow stronger. Initially these attempts were with a home-made scythe that came with the place, and then with a petrol-powered strimmer that struggled on manfully for years but eventually fell apart following years of systematic abuse.

It was important to get our priorities right, so long before the house conversion was contemplated - or affordable - we decided that we could spend no more summers without a pool. Arrangements were made for this in 97 and it was constructed the following spring. Prior to that we had sorted out the water situation by having a bore hole dug near to where the pool was to be located. This went down into the hill some 85 metres and provides a constant and reliable source of clean water at an average temperature of 12ºC summer and winter. It also provides the pool water when that needs to be topped up or changed.

For the first couple of years of its life, the pool had little in the way of smart surroundings, just a narrow strip of concrete - the landscaping came later.

Gupole really underwent its dramatic change during the renovation. It was essentially gutted and rebuilt, without actually knocking down the outside walls. It had a new roof atop a significant increase in height of the outside walls. The patchwork of stone, bricks and cement that formed the outside walls were replaced with just stone - leaving original stuff where possible and the increased height blended in with new stone. A foundation and damp course was created to make the place proof against water - very important when two walls of the living room are well below the level of the drive outside.

Completely new wiring and plumbing was installed, as well as central heating that this time was gas-fired, a real kitchen was built, a proper bathroom and of course new window frames, shutters and doors which were all made of chestnut by a local carpenter.

It still in many ways looks like the old house, it had to since it's in a protected countryside area, but it now functions like a proper house rather than an overgrown shed. It still has problems - the electricity supply is rubbish since the house is too far from the nearest transformer as well as being at the end of the line. Net result is that as soon as something powerful goes on, like a pump or the vacuum cleaner, the lights dim. Disconcerting for visitors, but we've got used to it.

We made a few mistakes, like we didn't install wood-burning stoves which would have helped with fuel bills in these times of horrible oil prices, but on the whole, we love the place and it's home - at least these days for the warm months of the year.

The house is actually two houses, the other part being owned by a local farming family. They haven't lived there for over 40 years and the place is falling apart. When we bought our place, we were told by the agent, who just made it up as he went along, that it would only be a matter of time before we'd be able to buy it. I suppose that could still be true, but 18 years on we're still waiting and now our priorities have changed to the extent where we no longer hanker after it. As long as it doesn't fall down, we're quite happy with the status quo.

If you look at the view at the top of this page, taken from across the the valley in June 2008, the left part of the structure, with the smaller windows, is the 'other half'.

Since moving in following our retirement in 2004, the main priority has been the garden and the land. As I've described in the Chronicles, Gail has done an amazingt job around the pool. Elsewhere, the old vineyard was ripped out in 2006 and replanted on a much smaller scale - it's now 180 vines in five rows. The remaining part of the old vineyard was planted with 61 olive trees, of which 60 have survived and are now maturing well. We're hoping for a good enough crop of olives in a year or two to make us self-sufficient in olive oil. Again, if you look at the photo of the top, you can see the new vines and the olive grove, as well as a general view of the pool and surrounding garden.