Long before Frances Mayes chronicled her life in “Under the Tuscan Sun”, Americans flocked to the Italian province for a taste of la dolce vita. Rolling hills, superb wines and cuisine, rustic architecture, and a relaxed way of life have made the region a paradise for tourists over the years. While many Americans have been charmed enough to dream of owning a home in Tuscany, the high cost of real estate and its distance from the U.S., makes second home ownership far from practical. Enter Resort Equities, a Calif.-based fractional development company now selling shares of a Tuscan villa.

What’s For Sale

Resort Equities is selling ten shares in their four-bedroom “Cologna della Via” residence for $450,000. The share includes up to five weeks of use a year. Annual dues of $19,000 go towards the upkeep of the villa, a 500 year-old farmhouse, as well as housekeeping.

What You Get

The villa’s 20 acres are home to groves of olive trees surrounding an infinity-edge swimming pool, ample and well-manicured gardens, and four stand-alone historic buildings that contain a gym and laundry facilities. In the main stone-walled house, there are two gourmet kitchens, a formal dining room, two parlors and four-bedrooms. The home’s décor is finished with Italian antiques, along with state of the art appliances and modern comforts. An on-site concierge service is also available to arrange tours throughout the province (Florence is ideal for a day trip, while Rome is just three hours away), as well as to stock the kitchen prior to arrival.

The Halogen Guides Take

Resort Equities is joining a number of fractional providers selling a slice of Tuscany. Timbers Resorts’ Castello di Casole is offering one-tenth fractions of homes in a sprawling 4,200 acre complex, while Palazzo Tornabuoni, in the heart of Florence, has fractions of apartments in a restored 15th-century building. Borgo di Vagli, a converted Tuscan village, is another option, selling fractions of one- and two-bedroom residences.

What separates Cologna della Via from the pack is the true privacy of this villa offering. There are no other homes in the development and no sense of a larger management company to infringe on the Tuscan charm.

For those interested in a stay in a Tuscan villa, without the commitment of fractional ownership, a destination club may be a good option. This month, Quintess, LRW opened a seven-bedroom retreat, its second residence in the area. Other clubs, including Exclusive Resorts, Ultimate Escapes, and High Country Club—to name a few—all of have homes in Tuscany. When Abercrombie & Kent Residence Club launches this fall, the club will have several villas in Tuscany as well.