Tenuta ai Fichi, sea-view villa with pool and tennis court in Puglia

Inside: accommodation at Tenuta ai Fichi is arranged over four separate houses, each with its own distinctive charm. The main house, overlooking the pool and the sea, is all on one floor and comprises an airy, extremely light living area, with a series of floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that really bring the outside (and the gorgeous seaviews!) in. Similarly bright and panoramic is the open-plan kitchen and dining area, which, apart from its large French windows, features a dining table, an open fireplace, a breakfast table and a practical, well-equipped kitchen, which also accesses a shady outdoor dining area with pizza oven. Also in the main house are two double bedrooms, one with en-suite bathroom, and a second bathroom. Furnishings have been chosen to underline the light, luminous nature of the house, with white breeze-bustled curtains and neutrally coloured walls, floors and furniture.
The second part of the accommodation is in a small pajara, a cylindrical construction typical of southern Salento. This is located just a few metres from the main house and offers a circular double bedroom and a bathroom with a separate shower room.
Then there are the two guesthouses, which are accessed via a path leading through the gardens below the pool area. The first, 19 steps down from the pool, is decorated with a nautical theme. Here there are two bedrooms (a double and a twin) sharing a bathroom, a living area with small kitchen and a terrace. The second, a further 13 steps down, has two double bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a kitchenette and a terrace.

Outside: the focal point of the extensive grounds is undoubtedly the splendid pool area, with its large curvaceous pool, its stunning sea views and its essential, neat surroundings: a manicured green lawn gives way to smooth paving stones, a family of palm trees sway elegantly in the sea breeze and aromatic Mediterranean shrubs pepper the tidy borders. Looking on to all of this is the shady al fresco dining area of the main house (complete with pizza oven!), which is where you will take the vast majority of your meals in the summer season. To one side of the pool there is also a shaded bar area, perfect for an aperitif at the end of another hard day! The other apartments, the pajara and the guesthouses, both have their own panoramic terraces. Paths crisscross the beautifully tended gardens and possibly the most well-trodden of these is the one that leads to the tennis court and the boules pitch behind the pajare...