A new kind of accidental
entrepreneur is creating some
of the most wonderful, whimsical
places to stay. By Steve King
The Rise of the
Un-hoteliers
IN 1984, COUNT ANTONIO BOLZA, a nobleman
of Italian and Austro-Hungarian descent, acquired
a farmhouse and a small parcel of land within the
grounds of Reschio, a significant estate in Umbria,
southeast of Florence. His wife and children loved
Reschio as much as he did, and so when the opportu-
nity arose a decade later to purchase all of it—2,700
acres of disused farmland, 35 run-down farm build-
ings, and an 11th-century castle in an advanced state
of dilapidation—he did so.
Nencia Bolza in her
private garden at the
Reschio Estate in Umbria44 CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER APRIL 2020
PHOTOGRAPH: OLIVER PILCHER
why we travel^ ➤^ anthropology