Locanda Rosati

Locanda Rosati is a very similar enchanting retreat, excellent for the sociable visitors. It is a true agriturismo and this means that all guests will be seated around the table at dinnertime and it is almost inevitable that conversations start.
Locanda Rosati’s premises are quite big and contorted and from near their pool area you’ll have a fantastic view to Orvieto.
Locanda Rosati was the farmhouse of the owners during generations and has been transformed into a guesthouse some years ago. The owners live across the street, so one or both are taking care of their guests with passion. The house itself has 3 storeys, the basement is for socialising with a huge library, living room and dining room, while the upper rooms have been converted into guest rooms. All is customised with old (antique) furniture and very much cosy. The rooms are equiped with newer furniture, but also in wood. I liked the design, it was made by the local wood artist Michelangeli, and he has placed little animals here and there, see my bed, right hand side – dormouse. Now guess how my room was called? The dormouse, haha. Consequently, each room was named after one little animal, it was on the room key and somewhere in the room. The rooms are spacious enough (for me, but I have choosen a smaller room anyhow) with bathroom (shower) and a nice view to the garden. I don’t remember if it had TV, but I don’t watch TV when on travels.

Unique Quality: The premises are lovely as well, easy to spend a whole holiday there. This is what VT’s Mike and Sue did, they have
devoted their Orvieto page almost entirely to this locanda. On their page you can also see more photos than I took. And they have been there in summer, when it was warm enough to enjoy the pool (photo 2). While I was here, I could pick fresh lemons on my way to the pool (photo 1). The whole garden is so wonderful, some benches here, some benches there, some pathways overgrown with bushes, some herbs in bloom – a real view for heart and soul.

The food is also excellent – see restaurant section. What else? There is enough parking outside of the house, but inside of the premises. The gate is locked in the night, but someone of the family sleeps in the house every night, so there is one to let you in if you come back late (but it is advisable to inform them in advance).

All in all I paid 80 Euro per night (single occupancy of double room, April 2008).

Directions: Take the SS 71 southwest of Orvieto. It leads to Viterbo and Lago Bolsena. Locanda Rosati is exactly at km 21 of this road, so definitely not to be missed.
Coordinates on GoogleEarth:
42°42’01,53’’N; 12°04’19,36’’E

I'm not sure of what the vine is called, maybe Gardenias, but anyway the smell was enchanting. The parking was in the background.
Ah!, my wife just told me the flowers are Jasmine.

This is a picture of the farmhouse's laundry facilities. I wished our laundry room was as beautiful...

Most of whats on display here is produced locally on the farm. We purchased many jams and copies of the family's recipes for gifts back home. We will be returning next year and hopefully they have a new edition of their cook book.

Everywhere around the farmhouse you can see Alba's green thumb. We spent many enjoyable moments walking with Alba and talking about flowers.

We really enjoyed exploring the huge property. It seemed like everyday we found something different.

We did notice the smell of hazelnuts when we were walking in one area of the property. Being curious I asked Giampiero, one of the family, where the smell was originating from. He smiled and took us on another tour. It seems that his farm has many hazel nut trees and after the harvest and shelling of the nuts there is a great many shells left over. Giampiero designed a high tech. boiler that is buried in a shelter out on the grounds. The Boiler heats the farmhouses water and heats the building. Instruments in a closet in the Inn show constant flow and all the vital statistics of the system room by room. It seems that the shells of the nuts burn extremely hot and make an excellent fuel.

The grounds are filled with flowers. Alba is the true gardener of the family. You can see her artistic touches throughout the property. It seemed like there was always someone watering and taking care of the gardens. As with any large farm they had many helpers.

The Rosati's property covers a very large area. They have nut trees, olive trees, two huge gardens, poultry pens, a dairy farm and much more. The farmhouse is established as an agriturismo Inn. To obtain the agriturismo rating they must produce 60% of the food that is served.

This is a picture of one of the owners, Alba and my wife in the tomato garden.

Another angle of the pool. On both ends there were tables and chairs to relax in. The Inn supplied us with wine and snacks as we enjoyed the pool.

The pool never had many people in it as most of the guests spent the days away. There is no chlorine in the pool, only fresh water, but it was very clean. The pool was not heated but the sun kept it warm and inviting.
The caves in the hillside besides the pool were once mines. Early in the history of the family, before the pool the family discovered a valuable ore and mined it. Now the caves are used to store pool and garden stuff.