Arcadian Renewal

At a 14th-century estate in Tuscany, contemporary art finds a home in the ancient landscape

- TEXT BY LAURA MAY TORD

THE SPRAWLING ESTATE La Porrona sits in the southern reaches of Tuscany, within what is now the vibrant winemaking region of Montalcino. But when it was founded in the 14th century, it functioned as a defensive lookout, a strategic outpost for the Republic of Siena to watch for advancing troops from the rival city-state of Florence. "When Siena lost the war, it was no longer needed," says Pino Brusone, the property's longtime owner. "So it was transformed into a country house." Brusone began splitting his time between La Porrona and Milan soon after purchasing the retreat in 2000, toward the end of his successful, decades-long career in the fashion industry as a top executive at luxury brands like Valentino, Armani, and Donna Karan. "I had been looking for something small, on about four or five hectares [approximately 10 acres] of land," he recalls. Instead, he discovered a nearly 13,000-square-foot farmhouse on more than 170 acres. It was overwhelming, yet he found it difficult to banish La Porrona from his mind. "The view stayed with me," he remembers. "I could still see it when I closed my eyes." What Brusone loved was the complete isolation of the place. In every direction, the Tuscan countryside stretches uninterrupted. Centuries-old cypress trees rose above rosemary and vines chewed bare by a flock of sheep kept by the previous resident, a local shepherd. It seemed as if there was nothing for miles around-except, he adds, in the dark of night, when the lights of Siena can be glimpsed twinkling in the distance.

Around the same time, he ran into an old acquaintance at a nearby Tuscan restaurant.