Idyllic Tuscany scenery, plenty of stereotypes and lashings of Italian-style romance are the key ingredients of the Netflix movie “La Dolce Villa”, set in the fictional town of Montezara.
There is not a place called Montezara in Tuscany, but the scenes are shot in real Tuscan towns, mixing and matching scenes from San Quirico d’Orcia, Pienza and Montepulciano – among the most picturesque small hilltop towns south of Siena.
“La Dolce Villa” Netflix movie
Young and spirited Olivia (Maia Reficco) is determined to restore a dilapidated villa, on sale for 1 Euro, in the midst of Tuscany’s countryside. And her dad Eric (Scott Foley), a recently widowed businessman rushes to Tuscany to stop his daughter from squandering the family’s savings for an impossible dream. But then we see that maybe the dream is not so impossible after all. And Tuscany offers him a second chance at happiness. Stereotypes aside, it’s a sweet, light-hearted story framed by the Tuscan landscape, full of all the clichès you’d expect: gelato, caffè espresso, mouthwatering dishes, cooking lessons and bicycle rides past vineyards and cypress trees. There’s even a trio of tricky Italian nonne (grandmothers) for the protagonist to contend with and, of course, plenty of romance.
While the title is a clear reference to Fellini’s masterpiece ‘La Dolce Vita’ (1960), the Netflix romantic comedy is a new take on the ‘good life in Tuscany’, exalting cuisine, nature and the beauty of a land that keeps on giving. It’s a classic expat dream, seasoned with all the classic elements that could be found in Mayes’ ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ – proving that the Tuscan sun… never sets.
Is Montezara a real place? Where is the Dolce Villa shot in Tuscany?
Don’t look for a town called Montezara in Tuscany. There’s no such place. The real Monte Zara is in fact in Sardinia, a mountain near Cagliari.
The Dolce Villa is shot in a few different locations around Val d’Orcia, the scenic area just south of Siena, in central Tuscany. It’s an area with a rural tradition that in recent years has gained popularity with international tourists for its beautiful countryside, the traditional food and the top-notch wines produced here, like the prized Brunello di Montalcino and Nobile di Montepulciano.
The majority of the scenes are shot in San Quirico d’Orcia, a lovely small town that has a lively main street, two ancient churches, Renaissance style gardens and a few good restaurants. When you see Eric cycling around the town, some of the shots are taken in a nearby town, Pienza, while the train station is Montepulciano’s.
-> Here we have a detailed driving itinerary of Val d’Orcia
And what about the Villa itself? The Villa’s exterior is the agriturismo Torrino dei Gelsi, located near Tivoli, half an hour from Rome, while the interior has been reconstructed in the studios of Cinecittà.
Are there Houses for 1 Euro in Tuscany?
The Mayor of Montezara (Violante Placido) hopes to attract people to buy in her town by offering old houses for 1 Euro. As you’d expect, the crumbling villa needs a lot of work (and money!) and as it shows in the film, Italian bureaucracy can add pain and misery to the renovation process. But is this just fiction? Nope. That part of the story is, unfortunately, very true.
If you’re wondering if it’s possible to buy a house for 1 Euro in Tuscany, the answer is yes. The 1 Euro house project involves different regions in Italy, and of course the houses are old and dilapidated, and in need of great renovations.
Last year in 2024 the Regione Toscana offered money to move to some of its most remote small towns. This ‘repopulation scheme’ didn’t include locations in Val d’Orcia though, as it’s not among the cheapest areas in the region. The Tuscan region was offering between 10 and 30 thousand euro bonuses for people willing to move to some of the mountainous areas -> Usa today covered the story in full.
How much of it is realistic?
This film is a tourist’s view of Tuscany. So as you’d expect there are plenty of wince-inducing stereotypes. But once you get past that, there is quite a bit of truth in it.
Are the towns in Tuscany really as romantic as all that? Yes. San Quirico D’Orcia (where they filmed the scenes of the main square) is one of my favourite places in Tuscany. And it’s just one of many magical towns in lovely Val d’Orcia!
Do people constantly talk about food? And can you do really to a cooking course in Tuscany? Yes and yes. Food is central to life here. Which is why you’ll overhear plenty of conversations about food wherever you go. We often talk about what’s for dinner while we are still eating lunch. It’s just part of La Dolce Vita!
They make it look like it’s easy to renovate a house in Tuscany. Is it? Not really. Living in an old house in the Tuscan countryside myself, I can assure you that doing any kind of renovations and maintenance is not cheap here, unless you know how to do it yourself. The houses here have to be restored in a certain way to maintain characteristic look, which takes time. And you’ll need plenty of patience to get you through the bureaucracy!
The characters learn Italian in no time. That can’t be realistic? Well, it will take you longer than an hour and a half, but it’s true Italians are very helpful when you are learning the language, which makes things a lot easier fore anyone moving here.
Author: Sabrina Nesi, born in Florence, founder of Lovefromtuscany.com, passionate about sharing the beauty of Tuscany and Italy with the world.
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