La Palazzetta del Vescovo

Rooms

The Zocchis collected the furnishings first and designed the rooms around them, and that’s exactly how they look – everything (from the sumptuous beds to the armchairs and the antique armoires) fits together like a dream.

Named after old farmhouses on the original estate, there are 8 rooms in the house (4 Superior, 2 Suites, 2 Romantic) and 1 in an annex - the latter designed for guests with disabilities. All are light and spacious, decorated in warm colours (cream, red, gold, burnt umber, ochre) with rustic walnut beams, terracotta tiled floors, antique mirrors, ornate beds and handmade Montefalco linens. Some of the top-floor rooms have sloping ceilings, hand-painted with delicate friezes. The look is traditional country house but there are 21st-century touches – like wide-screen plasma TVs and energy-efficient air conditioning. All windows have shutters and insect screens.

The bathrooms are lined with marble and mosaics; the floors are terracotta (some inlaid with antique tiles from Naples) and they all have a window (in ours, we could look at our spectacular Umbrian view from under the shower).

In terms of comfort, there isn't a lot to choose between the different room types, but the Suites (Vescovo and Rota) are the largest. One is furnished with a wrought-iron four poster draped in floaty white muslim, and both have generous sitting areas and kingsize bathrooms (double sinks, bath tubs and walk-in showers). The Romantics (Poggio, Torricella) have arched ceilings and large wet-room showers. The special-needs room (Spineta) has a private entrance and terrace.