Borgo Santo Pietro, Tuscany

In short… A jewel of an estate where sustainability and beauty are equally important, in between Florence and the Tuscan Coast

The vibe… Over 20 years ago, Danish couple Jeanette and Claus Thorthrupp bought a farmhouse and some 200 acres in Tuscany, about 90 minutes from Florence. While initially it was intended as a vacation home, they soon decided to open it up to guests. Today Borgo Santo Pietro is a beautiful estate—the most tastefully done interiors, two restaurants, an organic farm, spa and English-style gardens that seem to go on forever. Jeanette has exquisite taste and so much love and passion for her project. But the one spot in the whole place that speaks volumes about her ethos is the flower shed in the middle of the garden, where her wonderful gardener creates arrangements of roses, lavender, or whatever’s in season for all the rooms, and is on hand to chat about anything and everything in the world of flowers.

The rooms… There are rooms in the 12th-century villa, villas with private gardens, and villas with their own private saltwater pool. They are all gorgeous and exquisitely decorated—filled with divine antiques and the beds with the softest linens.

The food and drink… Sustainability is a core value for the owners of Borgo Santo Pietro, and it’s probably most visible in the restaurants. All the eggs come from the chickens, who mill around in the most colorful coops you’ve ever seen, and they even have a fermentation lab, where they pickle produce from the garden to have year-round. There’s a Michelin tasting menu restaurant, Saporium, which we ate at for lunch and were very impressed by, and then a more casual Trattoria sull’Albero.

The wellness… When we visited Jeanette’s skincare line, Seed to Skin, had just come out—a longtime dream—and we got to see everything, from the sheep that provide the milk that’s used in some of the products, to the gardens that provide many of the ingredients. Afterwards we had an incredible treatment in the beautiful spa.