This restored masseria in Puglia has come a long way since its days warding off pirates and Saracen invaders.

Masseria Petrarolo was built in 1689 to provide protection from raiders who would plunder the Italian coast line from the Adriatic Sea. Its old fortified bell tower still remains, while traces of its battle-hardy past can be read in the arrow-slit windows and thick stone walls.

‘It was very rustic, all these spaces were for animals, they were just dirt floor and plain stone,’ says owner Constant Tedder. ‘All the ground floor spaces were not utilised and were for cows and pigs and chickens.’

Tedder enlisted local architecture practice Simone & Musa and London based firm Tully Filmer to add some polish to the masseria’s historic bones. They transformed the tired building into an eight-bedroom holiday home, now available to rent via A Found World for €12,500 per week.

Alexander Waterworth (of Soho House fame) designed the Puglian villa’s minimalist interiors. Stone walls and vaulted brick ceilings are a simple backdrop for antique furniture sourced from across France and Italy, as well as contemporary design pieces.

‘We wanted to go for something that was soft, not too formal, but still had a strong theme running through it,’ says Tedder. ‘That was his brief, to create a place that still felt like a home, but not the home that most people have – to feel extraordinary.’

Masseria Petrarolo’s dining room can seat 20 people beneath its skylit ceiling and has an enormous stone fireplace for cosy evenings.

The Italian holiday home sits within 75 acres of olive groves, and comes with a 17th-century chapel. There’s also a rooftop swimming pool – and a second pool in the garden – as well as a hammam and a number of private terraces.

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