A real Florence experience

PLEASE NOTE: TWO WEEK MINIMUM STAY, and no more than four persons.

This is the time to visit Florence! The city is enjoying new museums, shops, galleries, the renovated Central Market, great restaurants (both new and classics), hip bars, new bookstores and cafes, entertainment and music, and lots more.

This house is for those who want to experience the authentic Florence and do something interesting and adventuresome – from their own comfortable and well furnished home. The house is in the Oltrarno (south side of the Arno River, the same side as the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens), about half way between the river and Porta Romana; near Piazza Tasso. The area is known as San Frediano, originally the crafts and working class neighborhood – today more upscale, but still very genuine and with plenty of character. Time Out recently listed the Oltrarno as one of "the 50 coolest neighborhoods in the world," and Lonely Planet says San Frediano (our neighborhood in the Oltrarno) is among the "10 coolest neighbourhoods to visit right now."

If you want to sip coffee in the morning while you watch the neighborhood wake up and come to life; if you want to shop locally for the best quality groceries, produce, and meats to make a spectacular lunch or dinner (to be enjoyed on the spacious terrace or in the dining room with candlelight); if you want to come home and unwind away from the crowds after a day of museums; if you want to explore arts, crafts, shops and workshops both traditional and contemporary; if you want to relax like a local over lunch or dinner in some of Florence’s best regarded and liveliest restaurants – then this is the house for you.

The house is on a small one-way street, at the juncture of two other small one-way streets, so there is little traffic, and it is quiet, especially at night and on weekends. It is in a real Florentine neighborhood, just outside the tourist center so it is away from the noise, crowds, and craziness, but only a 15-20 minute walk to Piazza Repubblica (the center).

The house is perfect for two to four people (not more). It is approximately 110 square meters (or 1100 square feet), not counting the rooftop terrace. The house is one story at street level, no one above or below. It gets lots of light, and all windows and doors are double-paned. The house has two “regular” bedrooms with doors that close: one with an Italian matrimoniale-size bed (US king bed equivalent), a frescoed ceiling, and French doors; the other has extra-long twin beds. The third bedroom is a very small, open (no door), loft bedroom (up ten steps) with a US-queen-size bed. The house has two bathrooms, both with modern fixtures and showers; the larger one also has a tub.

The living room has a sectional sofa and two leather club chairs; the dining room has French doors and one wall of rustic stone; the small, but fully furnished kitchen has a dishwasher, four-burner gas stove, oven, full-size refrigerator, microwave, breakfast table and three stools. Walk up ten steps to the office, which has a large desk workspace and lots of bookshelves (with plenty of guidebooks). Up ten more steps from the office, the large rooftop terrace (another 65 square meters – or, more than 650 square feet) is one of the house’s great features: it is partially covered, part full sun, with dining table and chairs for eight, two lounge chairs, and lots of plants (jasmine, two olive trees, a lemon tree, cacti, laurel shrubs, box hedges,