OUR HISTORY
The farm Le Scope is located in Molazzana in Garfagnana about 40 km north of Lucca, in the regional park of the Apuan Alps. It is composed of the main house and the barn-stable, which has now become a house. It is surrounded by an olive grove with more than a hundred trees and an orchard of mainly apple trees of a local quality called "casciana". All around is a forest of chestnut trees and other plants covering about 11 hectares.
The construction of the buildings probably dates back to the end of the 19th century although some of the stones on the doors and windows would suggest something even older. The farm had been given by the owner, a wealthy man from the nearby village of Brucciano, to a large family who lived from farming and raising animals such as cows, pigs, etc., on a sharecropping basis.
It was inhabited until the early 1960s, after which due to its uncomfortable location, it was abandoned. In fact, it had no electricity or drinking water and there wasn't even a road for cars to reach it. This is why it remained uninhabited for more than 30 years until my friends Cesare and Roberto and I fell in love with the place and purchased the property at the end of 2001. Work began immediately on cleaning up the property, because in the meantime what had been a well-kept, cultivated farm had turned into a jungle of brambles. The roof of the main house and some of the supporting walls had collapsed, and the barn-stable was completely ruined.
We brought in the power line and built a 1 km aqueduct to bring drinking water, and in the meantime, amidst many difficulties, we built the road to the property. By clearing the land around the buildings, we were able to bring back the old olive grove and at the same time we planted an orchard with more than 200 apple trees and other fruit trees. With the help of companies specialised in restoring ruined buildings, the reconstruction of the manor house began and was completed in 2007.
Two years later, the renovation of the barn-stable began, which in 2010 became a new house called I Torchi. We used the original materials, stones and ties, respecting the characteristics of the country houses of upper Tuscany with terracotta floors, chestnut beams and bricks. Before starting the agritourism activity in 2011, the swimming pool was built, transported to the site by helicopter, given the not too big dimensions of the access road to Podere Le Scope.
Mauro Piantini