History

Historical facts about our estate Podere Oliveto

The estate was owned by Marchese Ginori Lisci di Querceto when, at the beginning of the 1950s, large landowners were successively expropriated and the land was leased to farmers to counteract hunger and the shortage of basic foodstuffs after the Second World War. Initially, it was leased to a farmer named Salvatore from the Marche region, nicknamed “the fire-eater”.
After the severe cold snap in February 1956, which froze all the olive trees, the “fire-eater” left the estate and it was assigned to a farmer called Telesca Donato. He stayed until 1961, after which Podere Oliveto passed to Venanzio Violante, already a local resident, who later transferred it to his son Vincenzo in 1979.

In 1994, the estate – no more than a ruin with a beautiful view – was sold to Peter and Roswitha Mathies. In less than three years they completely rebuilt the house, had it connected to the public electricity supply and ran an agritourism business for about 10 years with much enthusiasm and love. When Mr and Mrs Mathies sold the Podere to Raymond and Penelope Wax in 2006, the 100 or so olive trees they had newly planted were already ten years old. The British law professor and his wife had a beautiful pool put in the garden and used the property purely for private purposes.

Love at first sight

When Hans Joachim Naujoks entered the property for the first time with his real estate agent in 2015, he had been searching for his dream house all over Tuscany for many years beforehand. Now he had found it – it was love at first sight.

It still takes a few months for seller and buyer to agree, and five more years pass before the estate has its present appearance.
Extensive, careful and loving renovation work, which has not yet been fully completed, has turned the 16th century estate into a modern yet authentically Tuscan property, which is not only a meeting place for families, but also a place to go for discerning Tuscan lovers.