Savoring the TUSCAN SUN

Luxury linen makers Federico and Gaia Leonori Pratesi relish alfresco summer weekends at their cliffside Mediterranean hideaway.

- MELISSA FELDMAN

The Pratesis' son, Athos, on the terrace built of Florentine terra-cotta, where the dining table, draped in Verderoccia's fuchsia Ananas' Kiss pattern, is set for a leisurely summer meal. OPPOSITE: The home overlooks Cala Piccola and the rocky promontory where the couple first met.

THE TWO-AND-A-HALF-HOUR DRIVE from Florence to the cliffs of Cala Piccola is not for the faint of heart. After zigzagging up a narrow road from Porto Santo Stefano over rocky terrain and descending down a steep road (once a mule path) toward the sea, one enters a driveway, courtyard, and gate to the enchanted property of luxury linen makers Federico and Gaia Leonori Pratesi. Originally designed in 1967 for Gaia's parents by Roman architect Mario Fiorentino, the 2,150-square-foot home is constructed of humble materials like local Argentario stone and terra-cotta tile.

“His philosophy was one of harmony—of using materials that felt as though they had been shaped by the land itself,” Gaia says.

The turquoise waters of the cove below belong to Monte Argentario, a peninsula on the southern coast of Tuscany. At peak summer, Italian coastal resorts to the north and south (Forte dei Marmi, Amalfi) pulse with waves of visitors, while the mood in Cala Piccola remains serene. For decades, this cloistered enclave has been an escape for both Florentines and Romans (as well as Hollywood royalty Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who found refuge at the Torre di Cala Piccola hotel while filming