Italy · Umbria · Montone
Moravola:
a tower alive again.
A medieval watchtower high above the Carpini Valley, rescued from ruin with the confidence to keep the stone ancient and everything else contemporary. A pool on the building's axis, silence among oak woods and Umbrian mornings that need no filter.
The quick Good Direction
Moravola
at a glance.
- Where
- On a mountain ridge above the Carpini Valley, about ten minutes by car west of Montone in northern Umbria.
- What
- A medieval watchtower transformed into an intimate retreat with suites, shared salons, terraces, a 25-metre infinity pool and a forest spa.
- Who
- Scottish designer Seonaid Mackenzie and Anglo-Chinese architect Christopher Chong, who found the place as a ruin and devoted years to bringing it back.
- Why go
- For the rare union of history and contemporary architecture, an almost silent landscape and the feeling of leaving the present day behind for a while.
- Best moment
- Early morning above the valley. Or wine beside the pool as the tower holds the final light and the rest of the world briefly becomes smaller.
Some places are beautiful because of what they add. Moravola is powerful because of what it refuses to conceal.
A gravel road climbs through the woods before the tower appears: not a romantic stage set, but a real building that once guarded the road between Perugia and Gubbio, later became a farm and eventually stood abandoned. Ancient walls now meet concrete, glass and weathering steel. Nothing pretends to be older than it is, yet the whole place feels quiet, natural and long settled into the landscape.
A ruin, water ninety metres below and years of patience
A restoration whose plan changed with every wall uncovered.
Moravola's own history traces the earliest layers to an early medieval place of worship; by the twelfth century the tower guarded a route between the feudal territories of Montone and Gubbio. A priest later lived here, agricultural buildings and tobacco-drying spaces followed, and around 1946 the farm was abandoned to the landscape.
When Seonaid and Christopher bought the ruin there was neither an access road nor utilities. Water was finally found ninety metres below ground. Masonry was stabilised, a ventilated cavity controlled damp, seismic strengthening was introduced and floors were rebuilt partly with salvaged material. The intensive restoration itself took roughly five to six years; development of the wider estate continued longer and Moravola opened in 2008.
Crucially, the project never imitates an invented past. Precise concrete, light steel stairs, glass and local pietra serena enter the old shell honestly; entire baths and basins were CNC-cut from solid stone. Rainwater storage, solar heating and underfloor systems are not decorative afterthoughts but part of the architecture.
Read the architecture story ↗
A day on the tower's axis
Morning above the valley. Afternoon in water. Wine as the light goes.
The 25-metre pool does not simply sit beside the house. Aligned with the tower, it frames the building from the southern pavilion as if it were rising from a moat. A quieter forest spa waits in the trees while the terraces change with the light. The greatest luxury is not a list of treatments but space, silence and an uninterrupted horizon.
Our plan is simple: step outside before everyone else, improve nothing in the afternoon and take a locally chosen bottle to the pool.
Seonaid & Christopher
Two people who did not simply buy a view. They accepted responsibility for a hill.
Seonaid Mackenzie worked as a designer and Christopher Chong as an architect on major international projects. When they looked for a different European life around the turn of the millennium, they reportedly understood Moravola within minutes. It was neither easy nor finished. It had history, an axis, a landscape and the possibility of creating something no conventional hotel brief could produce.
Their presence is more tangible than any brand. Seonaid suggests a road, table or bottle; Christopher's thinking is legible in every framed view. Pushkin the cat completes the household and, unlike the architecture, requires no explanation.
Meet Moravola ↗
A tower is not a conventional hotel floor
Every room reads the old walls differently.
Suites gather around a central axis and shared salons. Several are duplex, some open straight onto a terrace and others catch golden afternoon light. Choose by character, not floor area alone.
Height and views
Main Tower
The most dramatic part of the house works with the original tower's verticality. Light structures keep the masonry legible; the views reward every level climbed.
Bath carved in stone
East Tower
Once the priest's room, this is now a two-level suite with a curved concrete wall, sunken stone bath and direct access to the East Terrace.
Golden afternoon
West Suite
A single-level suite looks towards the olive groves and has a generous stone bathroom. Ideal for fewer stairs and the best of the late light.
Beyond the tower
Montone and Umbria without a compulsory list.
Moravola is reason enough to stay put. When you do leave, it sits among towns that need not impress through size. Choose one a day and let the countryside keep the rest.
Medieval town · 10 minutes
Montone
This small hill town belongs to I Borghi più belli d’Italia and holds the Touring Club's Orange Flag. See Piazza Fortebraccio, San Francesco church and museum, and the Rocca di Braccio ruins — but save time simply to lose your way in its lanes.
City · full day
Perugia & Assisi
Perugia brings Etruscan layers, palaces and urban energy; Assisi brings light, basilicas and another kind of quiet. Do not squeeze both into one hurried afternoon. Each deserves a day.
Stone · history
Gubbio
Set against Monte Ingino, Gubbio is sterner and more monumental than Montone. Medieval palaces, the cable car and far-reaching views offer a handsome contrast to Moravola's softer hills.
Art · shorter trip
Città di Castello
Go for Alberto Burri, then stay for a square and an unhurried coffee. It works beautifully when you want discovery without a grand tourist stage set.
Leave one day in the diary completely empty.
On foot and by bicycle
The journey begins on the medieval path below the house.
Paths run from Moravola through oak woods and the valley; Montone is roughly a two-hour walk and a lift back can be arranged. Cyclists should expect hills, gravel and mixed surfaces. An e-bike or gravel bike makes more sense than a city bicycle — confirm the route locally and adjust it for weather.
Moravola's official walk ↗
Walking · moderate
Moravola → Montone
A forest path and around two hours on foot to lunch in town. Arranging a lift home is good planning, not defeat.
Bicycle · hills
Carpini Valley
Build a loop according to surface, climbing and season. In summer, leave early and carry plenty of water.
Walking · easy
Montone without a goal
The article's simplest route: park beneath the walls and allow the stone lanes to choose the direction.
Umbria at the table
Food without performance. Vegetables, olive oil, pasta and truffles.
Meals can be arranged at Moravola in advance. The kitchen works with its garden, the season and local ingredients; breakfast and dinner on the East Terrace are moments in which architecture, landscape and table become one image. The wine list leans towards small family producers, often with a low-intervention approach.
In Montone, L’Antica Osteria at Hotel Fortebraccio is a good address for handmade pasta, meat, local cheese and truffles. Always confirm current opening and Moravola's dinner availability when booking; our food photographs combine breakfast and tables in the surrounding area.
Before you go
Practical — because the final kilometres belong to the story.
- Address
- Loc. Moravola Alta, Voc. San Faustino, 06014 Montone (PG), Umbria, Italy.
- Arrival
- A car is essentially necessary. The final section is gravel; save directions offline and arrive in daylight the first time.
- Room
- Suites differ significantly in stairs, light, terrace access and type of stone bath. Describe how you wish to stay when booking.
- Food
- Breakfast is generally included. Lunch and dinner are by request; confirm them before arrival.
- Moving
- Forest paths begin at the house. For cycling choose an e-bike, gravel bike or MTB according to confirmed surfaces and fitness.
- Our tip
- Stay for at least three nights: one for the place, one for Montone and one for whatever the day decides itself.
Where it is
Torre di Moravola
Montone · Umbria · Italy
Loc. Moravola Alta, Voc. San Faustino, 06014 Montone (PG)
Drawing the map…
The Good Direction verdict
A house that saved its past by refusing to fear the present.
We will remember Moravola's pool, horizon and stone. What stays strongest, however, is the courage of the restoration: never hiding the new behind an imitation of the old, nor reducing history to decoration. Seonaid and Christopher returned life to the tower without taking away its memory. These are precisely the places that define a good direction for us.