Checking-in to: Tenuta di Murlo

CHECKING-IN TO | CABANA TRAVEL | WORLD OF CABANA

Surrounded by 18,000 acres of Umbrian woodlands, olive groves, farms and rivers, historic Tenuta di Murlo is a stone-walled, terracotta-floored paradise where life is slow and seasonal. Jamie Sharp checks-in for a true taste of la dolce vita.

BY JAMES SHARP | CABANA TRAVEL | 8 MAY 2025

I arrived early and, after dropping my bag off at my room, set about walking the winding gravel road from the small hotel where I was staying on the estate up to the Castle. The estate, which has remained in the same family for centuries, is both one of Italy’s oldest and largest. I was misguided in my attempt to walk between the two; the vast size of the estate means that Tenuta di Murlo is laid out on a grand scale. Carlotta, who owns the estate with her husband Alessio, picks me up on my walk in her car. With three dogs in the back and windows rolled up against the billowing dust of a tractor ahead of us, she began to point out different corners of the estate.

Umbria is quite different to its more famous neighbour, Tuscany. Umbria’s architecture is purer, more monastic, its forests feel deeper and its villages unexplored. The way of life here is ancient—people farm, producing grain and oil, and they worship in the same medieval churches beneath the same renaissance frescoes as their grandparents and generations before them. The landscape is dramatic, with densely wooded hills rising abruptly from the valley floors and a vast open sky that ushers in hot, languid summers and freezing winters. The strong seasonality of the region gives a distinct rhythm to life and an evocative flavour to its agricultural produce, from the olive harvest to the ripening of grapes in summer and the red leaves turning in autumn.

Tenuta di Murlo fits naturally into this landscape, covering over 18,000 acres—larger than the island of Manhattan—and includes woodlands, olive groves, farmland, rivers, and a number of medieval hamlets, towers, and farmhouses. When Carlotta and Alessio Carabba Tettamanti inherited the estate from Alessio’s family, many of its buildings had been abandoned for decades. Roofs had collapsed, ivy had overtaken walls, and the land itself was largely dormant. Over time, they have restored more than twenty structures, transforming them into private villas, guesthouses, and a hotel.

The hotel, located in charming converted farm buildings near the centre of the estate, is small, quiet, and designed to feel like a retreat. Interiors combine traditional Umbrian elements—stone walls, beamed ceilings, terracotta floors—with soft colours, natural linens, and a sense of pared-back elegance. There’s a pool and lounge, and a concierge team is available to arrange anything from private chefs and in-villa massages to excursions around the estate or into nearby towns.

Dining is centred on Il Caldaro, the estate’s restaurant, located in a beautifully restored building with views over the surrounding hills. The menu is entirely seasonal and makes use of produce from Murlo’s own organic farm, alongside ingredients sourced from neighbouring Umbrian suppliers. Pasta is handmade, game is often featured in autumn and winter, and the estate’s own olive oil is central to nearly every dish. Guests can also visit the small estate shop or take part in cooking classes and olive oil tastings, which are held regularly in a purpose-built teaching kitchen.

Because of the estate’s scale, guests staying in one of the villas will need a car to get around. “Sometimes guests walk out of their house and ask where the restaurant is,” Alessio laughs. “They don’t realise it’s a ten-minute drive.” But the distance is part of the charm. Unlike many agriturismi or country hotels in Italy, Murlo offers a genuine sense of space and privacy. You can spend the day exploring hills and forests, passing deer or wild boar, and not see another guest until dinner.

While the restoration has been thorough, it has also been respectful. This is not a luxury resort layered over the countryside, but rather an effort to revive the rhythms of rural Umbrian life. The old chapel still hosts mass; the farmland still yields grain and oil; the buildings still breathe with age. What Carlotta and Alessio have created is something rare in Italy—a place where the past hasn’t been glossed over, but carefully preserved, and made quietly comfortable.

Tenuta di Murlo is slow, deliberate, and beautiful in a way that’s deeply rooted. Whether you come to walk, to rest, or to reconnect with something quieter and more enduring, it offers an experience that’s both grounded and expansive.