The origins of what is today Poggio Posillipo can be traced back several centuries, though the chronicles are scarce. What is certain is that this plateau, set at 600 metres above sea level in the hills above Todi, was once a small hamlet along a mulattiera — a mule track connecting the high ground to the town below. The farmers who lived here cultivated tomatoes, raised cattle and kept small plots of land on the edge of a dense wood.

The place had a name: Moricciole. It derives from the Medieval Latin maurus — dark, Moorish — via a local dialectal diminutive. In the Umbrian tradition, moricciole described small plots characterised by dark soil, dark stone, or a particular local variety of olive tree. A modest name for a modest place on an ancient road.

A winter visit and a leap of faith

We first saw the site in the middle of winter. It was cold, windy, and raining, with a few snowflakes carried on a sharp wind from the valley. The buildings were in ruin. The land was overgrown. It took a considerable effort of imagination to picture what the place might become.

We made the leap anyway.

We began by converting the old stable into a ground floor living space, and built upward and outward from there. When the restoration was finally complete — almost a decade ago now — the place felt so beautiful, so unexpectedly calm, that we found ourselves searching for the right name.

The meaning of Posillipo

We did not have to look far. The ancient Greeks, settling along the hills outside Naples, called those famous coastal cliffs Pausilypum — "a pause to sorrow." A place so beautiful that it interrupted grief. A place you did not want to leave.

The more time we spent on our Umbrian plateau, the more the name felt true. We noticed it first upon leaving — counting the days until we could return. Poggio simply means hilltop in Italian. The combination said everything we felt about the place.

The new chapter: a wellness borgo

Last year we decided the time was right for a new addition — not simply to expand, but to complete the idea we had always had for the estate.

The location is extraordinary: a natural saddle between two valleys, which means the Main House catches the sunrise to the east and the Guest Pavilion frames the sunset to the west. To the south, Todi sits at 400 metres below. To the west, Monte Peglia and the Tiber Valley extend toward the horizon.

To the existing infinity pool and championship-size tennis court, we added an outdoor sauna and a fully equipped gym. And we designed the new Guest Pavilion as something closer to an optical instrument than a building — conceived so that its full-height glass façade would perfectly frame the western panorama, turning the landscape into a living view from every room.

The result is a small private borgo: two stone buildings, a central piazzetta between them, and a setting that we believe is genuinely without equal in this part of Umbria.

For those who are curious, the estate is at: www.poggioposillipo.com
Enquiries: enquiries@poggioposillipo.com

CHRONICLES

WHAT WE CHERISH

From Moricciole to Posillipo: The Story Behind a Private Umbrian Borgo