La Foce

In 1924, writer Iris Origo, granddaughter of William Bayard Cutting and Hamilton Cuffe, 5th Earl of Desart, joined Antonio Origo, son of Marchese Clemente Origo in buying the dilapidated estate. They moved there after their marriage.[2] The late 15th-century villa was restored by the Origos in the 1920s with government financial assistance.[3][4] The fine gardens were designed by the English architect Cecil Pinsent[5] - "the last great Italian garden by Pinsent" in the words of horticulturist television presenter Monty Don.[6][7] Pinsent had created several other gardens in Tuscany, including those at Villa Le Balze and Villa I Tatti, where Iris' mother were a frequent guest of Bernard Berenson, who had commissioned Pinsent's first Italian garden about twenty years earlier.

The Origos employed 25 families and started a school to teach and ensure the well-being of some 50 local children.[3] They also built 35 dwellings in the 1920s to 1930s for tenant farmers.[8]

After the deaths of Iris and Antonio, their daughters Benedetta and Donata sold off about two-thirds of the estate and divided the rest between them.[8] Descendants of the family still own the property today and operate it as a resort.[9]