There are hotels that inspire Instagram photos and other works of art, paintings, sculptures, songs... In Villa Lena both things happen. housed in a 19th-century neoclassical estate surrounded by gardens , olive trees, vineyards and hectares and hectares of forests –so many that they add up to a size similar to that of the Vatican State–, is an hour and a half from Siena , lost in the sultry hills of Italian Tuscany.
There is nothing for miles around. “This is a place for people to have time and space away from it all” , tells us Lena Yevstafieva , the Lena that gives her name. So far away is that the nearest town is abandoned. Time and space. Is there anything else needed?
A few years ago, Lena's parents bought a dilapidated farmhouse with whom they had fallen in love on a previous trip, long ago, with the aim of transforming it into luxury accommodation.
During the rehabilitation works and since Lena is an art consultant and collector and her husband, Jerôme Hadley, a music producer , they came up with the idea, along with her good friend Lionel Bensemoun, creator of the legendary Le Baron nightclub in Paris, to turn it into a cultural exchange space.
“A democratic place in the middle of nature that would make possible the interaction between guests and artists ”, Lena explains to us in a telephone conversation from London, where she lives during the winters, when the farm is closed.
Every year since then, and with this one now five, from April to November, artists from various disciplines – painters, poets, photographers, architects, musicians, filmmakers… – come to live and work in the studios that Villa Lena puts at your disposal for a month, completely free of charge.
“Being an artist is a lonely job, you spend a lot of time alone in your studio, concentrating on yourself, so the possibility of sharing and living with other people is greatly appreciated ”, assures Lena. "Have the chance to have a whole month to experiment and create away from the routines and rush of everyday life It's very productive." The connections that are made often last a lifetime.
But you don't have to be an artist or pretend to be to spend a few days here. Although different, Villa Lena is a hotel. A hotel-muse in which guests, as well as surrounding neighbors and staff members, are welcome to join the workshops and participate of the talks and activities carried out by the artists in exchange for their stay.
“Normally, the clientele of hotels tends to be homogeneous. Not here; us we have different prices , which makes it possible for diverse people to come. In summer, around the pool you can find families with children, groups of models, musicians... It is a very varied and interesting mix. ”, Lena tells us describing the relaxed atmosphere of the hotel.
To accommodate them, in Villa Lena there are 13 apartments from one to three bedrooms distributed among the main buildings, and several more houses, the old hunting lodges, that can be rented whole or by rooms. Some bedrooms are suites, others, more modest, share the bathroom.
There's also swimming pools (two), one game room , another for movie screenings, playground and a platform yoga with incredible views, where, every morning, classes are held to say good morning to the sun.
He took care of the decoration the designer Clarisse Demory with a summery 'neo-folk' style in which Tuscan furniture rescued from the old property coexists, vintage pieces brought from here and there and works donated by the artists themselves . They also participate in the reforms of the farm.
This year, for example, the British designer Fred Rigby, who was already in charge of making the main building sustainable a couple of years ago, he just enlarged the main pool, while landscapers Jocelyn Oppenheim and Kate Smaby have overseen the improvements made to the trails.
“We spend most of our time in cities, between cars and buildings. Here, the only thing that surrounds us are the trees. Y being immersed in nature produces an incomparable and very enriching placidity and tranquility. I'm not just referring to the landscape, but also to the weather: the wind, the sun... Amazing electrical storms occur here! Feeling all these elements up close and having time to contemplate the fauna and flora inspires us in an incredible way”.
Nature is essential to feed the soul, but also the body. Y Here you eat what is grown. “Nothing can compare to the taste of a tomato that you add to the salad the same day you pick it from the bush.” We couldn't agree more with Lena.
Of feed the digestive system of so much creativity they take care of different chefs every month, who make their own works with the ingredients that grow in the fertile soil in which it is found the farm. always married with homemade limoncello and with the biodynamic wine that they are beginning to produce from their own vineyards.
This May it will be the turn of Aaron Tomczak , currently in charge of the butcher and charcuterie of New York Monkey House. And, in June, he will pass the baton to Marcela Ogrodnik, an eclectic chef to whom she likes nothing more than going out to collect in the forest , as she used to do in her day to Mugaritz.
Every year, Villa Lena receives 300 requests from artists for the 56 places available eight each month. The lucky ones are chosen by a board of directors made up of a journalist, an architect, a music producer, a fashion designer and a rapper. Yes, as a joke, but a good one. The criteria to follow: talent and creativity.
Thus, since its inception in 2013, through the residency artists as multifaceted as the filmmaker Lola Schnabel have left their mark (yes, Julian's daughter) , sculptor hugo wilson, singer Devendra Banhart, the poet, singer and songwriter Benjamin Clementine either the photographer Coke Bartrina , one of our regular collaborators.
This season , among the people invited to live in the villa are the writer Julie Iromuanya , the Cuban sculptor Leyden Rodríguez , the journalist, filmmaker and indigenous rights activist Jennifer Monet or the pair of experimental potters Bart Walter and Jennifer Bernstein , which have scheduled a long-awaited pottery workshop.
Art installation by Bobby Dowler in one of the Villa Lena studios.
“ Culture is an essential part of our daily life . It inspires us, balances us, gives us new perspectives and ways of looking at things. And what we want is facilitate a new way of approaching culture, but in a living way, generate an impact . Not like in a museum, but to create an organic and enriching ecosystem for everyone”.
***** This report was published in **number 117 of Condé Nast Traveler Magazine (May)**. Subscribe to the printed edition (11 printed issues and a digital version for €24.75, by calling 902 53 55 57 or from our website) and enjoy free access to the digital version of Condé Nast Traveler for iPad. The May issue of Condé Nast Traveler is available in its digital version to enjoy on your preferred device.