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WHAT THIS PLACE IS
A working agriturismo in the hills of Castell'Azzara
ASHA is a retreat and community campus on a hillside 1.5 km outside Castell'Azzara, a medieval former mining village of just over five hundred people in the province of Grosseto. Monte Amiata is on the doorstep. Chianti and the Val d'Orcia are a long way behind you, which is the point.
Anthony Abbagnano and Amy Rachelle bought the land in 2020, after a ten year search across more than seventy properties for clean air, clean water and clean soil, far from cities. One month later, the first lockdown arrived. Everything here has been built or restored in stages since, by a seasonal team, volunteers, friends and family. It is still being built.
It runs on solar power with its own water source, is registered as an Italian agriturismo and lavender farm, and holds up to sixty guests in summer and thirty‑two in winter.
THREE WAYS TO BE HERE
Three things happen on this land, and they are not the same thing
Most people arrive looking for one of them. It is worth knowing which, because the price, the season and the person you speak to are all different.
THE CAMPUS
Three practice spaces,
two of them year‑round
Purpose‑built rooms rather than a converted villa living room. Whichever one you take is yours alone for the whole booking. Nobody walks through it and nobody books it out from under you.
Nadi Shala
A round yurt above the olive grove, with a wooden floor, good acoustics, and doors opening onto the hillside. It's the room people describe afterwards as the one that held them.
YEAR ROUND
The Ark
The main house. Meals, the wifi, and where the day starts. Bathrooms sit in the buildings around it rather than inside, which is useful to know when you plan the shape of a day.
YEAR ROUND
Dharma Den
The small room, and small on purpose. Twelve people sitting in a circle can all see each other. A log burner keeps it warm through the colder months of the year.
YEAR ROUND
The kitchen
Six hob stove, full sized pizza oven, two Vitamix blenders, cold press juicer, dehydrator, food processor, hand blender, ozonator, and fridge space for a week of food for thirty.
INCLUDED WITH CATERED STAYS
Prana Shala
Open-sided, with nothing between the practice and the valley. It stands from late spring through to autumn and comes down for the winter, so summer bookings only.
SUMMER ONLY
The land
Forty-two acres of forest, fields, streams and natural bathing spots, with eight marked Rites of Passage sites across it and Monte Amiata walking straight off the property.
OPEN TO EVERY GUEST
WORTH KNOWING
The kind of place this is
A few things that shape a week here. None of them are problems. They are simply the character of an old Italian hillside farm, and people tend to like knowing before they arrive.
Rustic, and newly restored
Old country buildings brought back with warmth and character. Shared spaces are cleaned every day and rooms at the end of the stay. Nobody knocks with fresh towels, and most guests prefer it that way.
Real ground underfoot
Forty-two acres of hillside, so the paths are uneven and there are slopes. Bring shoes you can walk in and a torch for the evenings. If anyone needs level access, tell us early and we will work it out.
You lead, we host
You bring the programme and your team. We handle arrivals, room orientation, food and everything practical, so you can look after your people instead of the plumbing. That is the arrangement.
A working farm, still being built
Registered as an agriturismo and lavender farm, restored in stages since 2020. There are deer, porcupines and wild boar on the land, six resident cats, and dogs who have opinions about the boar at night.
Simple, on purpose
There are practitioners you can book by the session rather than a treatment menu and a robe. The simplicity is the part people tend to remember, and the part they mention again afterwards.
Wifi where you need it
Starlink in The Ark holds a video call comfortably. The cottages and the land are left without signal, which turns out to be the thing people mention most often once the week is over.
Easier with a car
Most guests take a fast train to Chiusi-Chianciano Terme and a taxi we arrange from there. Organisers usually want a hire car for the week, since the land sits a little way out from larger towns.
Room to think
A week here asks something of you, with the walking and the hills and the quiet. There is no clinical support on site, so if someone with you is going through something difficult, talk to us early.
GETTING HERE
Far enough out that the quiet is real
ASHA is at Loc. Le Piane, 58034 Castell'Azzara GR. The village is 1.5 km up the hill: twenty‑five to thirty minutes walking up, fifteen to twenty coming back down.
Most guests take a fast train to Chiusi‑Chianciano Terme and a taxi from there, arranged in advance through reception. There is no taxi service based in the village. Rome Ciampino and Perugia are also used.
Arrivals after 22:00 are arranged with us in advance, so it is worth building the transfer in generously. Rome is the longer of the two drives.
2.5 hrs
Rome Fiumicino, FCO, by car
2 hrs
Florence, FLR, by car
1 hr
Chiusi‑Chianciano Terme station
4 min
Nearest pharmacy, Castell'Azzara
