Trullo Falco

Abandoned Agricultural Outpost Made Beautiful, Inside and Out

Trulli homes are undeniably enchanting, and this one is no exception, a garden-forward villa named for its owner’s resident hawk, Sisco. The luxury outdoor living oasis features a private pool, large outdoor kitchen, multiple exterior lounge areas and sumptuous sunset views.

Homeowner (and avid falconer) Jon Gourlay is also a professional gardener whose showmanship is on display at the trullo, a standout outdoor living destination on a quiet Puglian hilltop. The home’s harmoniously restored interiors are more the domain of Jon’s wife, Laura Lapadula, who summered in the region as a child with her Italian father. Laura’s love of the local area is evident in her update of the lovely country estate, where treasures of yesteryear combine naturally with local stone and the beautifully curated outdoor living areas.

The property was purchased in 2008 in a state of abandon and brought back to life with a local architect and teams of regional tradesmen who restored the original stacked-stone structure and its attached lamia. Once a rustic cattle hold, the home is now a full-fledged, garden-party estate, an ideal destination for rest and relaxation. Surrounded by lush flowers, trim beds, expanses of green turf cut by pebbled and flagstone pathways, plus heritage orchards and groves extending into the valley below the pool, it's an oasis of calm.

Best described as modern rustic in style, the home charms with locally sourced antiques and objets d’art decorating its stone-lined rooms that sleep six across three private suites. The interior dining and living room space is tidy and bright—a study in bone, beige and whites under a vaulted ceiling, with a wide hearth created from recycled local stone. Bedrooms and baths also feature vaulted or conical ceilings typical of traditional trullo architecture.

Outdoor living spaces truly set this trulli home apart, with built-in sofa seating flanked by flowering beds, pebbled terraces with views over the estate, and poolside terraces of bleached stone offset by ornamental grasses, sculptural cacti, and the silvery shimmer of olive groves, leafy fig trees, and citrus orchards.

A spacious pool terrace sits high on the property, with pebbled pathways and patios stretching out below it, and a fully-equipped alfresco kitchen and dining room located a few steps above it. Separated from the pool by grass and herb-filled stone planters, the elevated outdoor kitchen features a prep island with an electric cooktop and fridge, a classic, wood-fired pizza oven, and barbecue grill adjacent to a shaded dining pergola. 

Read a short history of the trullo in our Stories section here.

Experiences

Extra services include private chef, pizza evening, and in-villa spa services, including massages. Prices available on request.

Around

The stony hilltop residence is situated outside the hamlet of Laureto, a land of rolling hills and Mediterranean vegetation, where fruit orchards and olive groves intersect idyllic agricultural fields and landscaped estate gardens. The popular hilltop towns of the Valle d’Itria, including whitewashed Locorotondo, the iconic bleached streets of Ostuni, dramatic Cisternino and UNESCO heritage-classified Alberobello, are all quick drives from the property, as are beaches along the crystalline Adriatic coast and the sparkling Ionian shores. Timeless port destinations include Polignano a Mare and Monopoli. The region is famed for its conical trulli homes, the fairytale-like, stacked stone roofed, former agricultural storages that now pop, newly whitewashed and restored, from its many hillsides.

Location

Selva di Fasano, Brindisi, Puglia, Italy. Nearest airport: Brindisi, Bari

Best time to visit

April to October