10. We Need a Name, Stat.
Naming the property has been a project into itself. The team pored over every Italian dictionary and thesaurus to try to find words that sounded sonorous in both English and Italian. It turns out that list has a lot of words on it, but most of those words have already been used for other properties, or they sound amazing in English and silly in Italian.
We considered hundreds of ideas. Some of them we loved, but found the domain wasn’t available, or there were villas who had already claimed the name. But eventually lightning struck. Somewhere in all of our wanderings, we landed on the perfect name. There weren’t any other villas with the name that we could find, just one small apartment-style hotel in another province. There would be no real crossover with our property, so we said the name again and again and we all fell in love: Adagio. Unfortunately, while it wasn’t being used, it was already trademarked.
We had been so in love with the name, and were even referring to the property as Adagio, liking the ring of it every time we said it, so we were deflated having to let it go.
Goodbye, Adagio.
We Need Your Help
More accurately, we ARE deflated. And tired of looking up names.
We tried asking the villa what it wanted to be named, but it didn’t work.
So once again we turn to our friends and audience, because we need help figuring out the right name.
We’ve revisited our list of candidates, which was very long, and made it very short. Please help us by voting for your favorite (and also your least favorite, hating a name is just as important as loving it).
What’s In A Name?
Before we get to the list, we should say that we don’t have many requirements. We just want our name to evoke the feeling of relaxed luxury and feel like Tuscany and also have a connection to our property. It also needs to sound interesting in English and Italian.
I can’t imagine why we are having a problem.
But Wait, What Is The Property Even?
I guess it would help if we shared a few details about the property.
The property is 120 acres of land that has an ancient Etruscan road running down to the farm. The first stone was laid in 1206, and originally it was a small village, until it was abandoned and sat in ruin for hundreds of years. It was then purchased and restored with all original historical considerations, and is unique in that it sits adjacent to thousands of acres of a nature preserve, so that every morning you are greeted by untouched natural Tuscan wilderness.
While it feels remote, it is only 30 minutes from the historic medieval city of Siena, and only 75 minutes from the Florence. The estate allows you to enjoy Tuscany as never before, away from the bustle of city life, but still close enough to the famous hilltop towns of Italy, as well as world-class restaurants and wineries. Even so, once you arrive, you never want to leave.
The property features a luxury stone villa outfitted with exquisite furnishings and luxury amenities, a resort-style pool, spa, and a fitness facility, all set in the middle of an elegant working farm, blending luxury with rusticity.
And Finally, The Names
Here is our short list of candidates:
Selvaggio / Villa Selvaggio - This means a wild place or person. This is fitting given the secluded location that is surrounded by the wild woods of a protected nature preserve, some of the most undisturbed nature in Italy where many wild animals and plants thrive.
Villa Verdone / Verdone Estate - Verdone has two meanings. It is the Italian name for the greenfinch, which frequent the vineyards of this small family estate in Tuscany. It is also used to describe the deep green of the forest, where our property sits.
Pietra Serena (pronounced suh-REH-nuh) - Pietra serena is a blue-gray sandstone used extensively in Renaissance Florence for architectural details, originally discovered by the Etruscans. We have an Etruscan road on our property, as well as pietra serena in our buildings.
Villa Santolina / Santolina Estate - a Mediterranean plant that grows on the property, with both ornamental and medicinal uses.
Villa Stellato / Stellato Estate - This means starry village which fits since the property is located in a dark sky area with amazing night sky viewing (and there is an observatory).
Villa Siderea - From siderale, meaning "celestial" or "of the stars" in Latin.
Vallara Estate / Borgo Vallara / Villa Vallara - Vallara is an invented word that combines the Italian word for valley (valle) with a feminine suffix that sounds like air (aria).
Or share is your idea - If you have an amazing name you’d like us to consider, please share! Seriously. We don’t even know how to make words anymore.
