Villa Elena is a terrific rental choice for visitors to Italy looking for an excellent location for day trips, a variety of activities, and a beautiful home. The villa is located just outside the town of Conegliano in the Veneto area of Italy not far from Venice, which is easily accessible by train (a 30 minute trip) from the Conegliano station. Other lovely cities such as Verona, Vicenza, Treviso, and Asolo, are an easy drive.  For architecture buffs, the gorgeous villas by Palladio can also be visited from here on day trips. The location is also a perfect base from which to explore one of Italy’s great wine production areas, where the light sparkling wine of Prosecco is produced. The area also offers beautiful spots for biking and hiking.

Some guests like to spend time relaxing at their rental villa, or preparing meals from purchases at markets, and they will enjoy their stay at Villa Elena. The villa has a commanding view over a valley whose hillside is covered in vineyards and olive groves. The church bell tower of the nearby small village of Collabrigo stands out like a sentinel above the valley. The Alps are visible in the distance. The entire front side of the house consists of an extensive covered terrace facing the view. It is very tastefully decorated for dining, relaxing and conversation. Just below the house, down a flight of 15 steps, is an infinity swimming pool (21x45 feet, no diving) that overlooks the vineyards.  There is ample outdoor pool furniture for relaxing, and an outdoor shower. The grounds are very well maintained, and the garden is filled with colorful flowers.

Villa Elena is a very large villa, almost 9000 square feet in size, with a lovely modern feel. The restoration lasted two years and was completed in 2010, focusing on comfort, modern technology, and great taste. The first floor of the villa is in a virtual open plan, with tall windows and five doors that lead to the outside and bring in the view. These rooms are filled with cheerful oil paintings, relaxing paint colors on the walls, light wood floors, oriental rugs, and beautiful Murano glass objets.

The villa is equipped with air conditioning in the entire house (included in the price up to 350 kw of use), a modern eat-in gourmet kitchen including wine refrigerator, washing machine, clothes dryer, satellite plasma TV, CD player, I Pod docking stations in every room, fitness equipment, home theater equipped with DVDs, WIFI Internet access, computer, fax/copier, cell phones for rent, maid service twice a week for two hours, and independent heating.

At one end of the first floor space is the semi-professional eat-in kitchen, which really is a cook’s dream. It has stainless steel appliances, including a very large Amana side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, garbage disposal, microwave, American and Italian electric coffee makers, indoor grill and many small electrical appliances. It is an easy walk from the kitchen out to the covered terrace for “al fresco” meals. The dining area is near the kitchen, and has an interesting wood table seating 18.

There is a piano in the luminous living room, along with a colorful rug and comfortable large modern Italian leather couch. This room is next to an office area with a large-screen computer that the owners leave for the guests, as well as a fax machine and copier. There is also WIFI, which works best on the main floor. Beyond this area is a Library with modern bookcases and colorful Italian leather furniture.  A powder room, and a laundry room with a washing machine and clothes dryer, are also on this floor.

The main bedrooms are on different levels off the first floor. The king master suite is large, with a separate bedroom filled with photos of Venice.  The suite has a sitting room with a couch, a computer area, and a spacious, well -decorated bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and a separate shower. The bedroom and sitting room face the vineyard views with a lot of light coming in from the windows, and the ceilings have exposed wood beams. 

The two other suites are in a different section of the villa, and they are spacious, tastefully decorated in soft colors, and have lovely artwork. Each suite is composed of two bedrooms and a shared bathroom with many amenities and a Jacuzzi shower.  One suite has a bedroom with a king size bed and a queen size bed. . The other suite has two queen-size bedrooms with access to a balcony that faces the countryside in the back of the villa, with vineyards, olive groves, mountains and other houses in the distance. One end of the balcony is wide enough to hold outdoor wicker furniture for a small sitting area.

The large downstairs area of the villa serves a variety of purposes. The owners created a “children’s area” with a large seating area, TV and many age-appropriate games.  It is next to a fitness area with gym equipment and a TV. There is also a Home Theater with a large screen, stocked with hundreds of movie titles. A children’s bedroom is also on this floor, with two bunk beds and a sofa bed for one person. It has its own ensuite spacious, brightly colored bathroom with a Jacuzzi shower.