I Tattoli is a prestigious property located in Val di Pesa, a few kilometres from Florence, belonging to the Bini Smaghi Bellarmini family. The property, due to its fortunate position in the landscape and the variety of its agricultural production, has been one of the privileged residences of members of this family over the centuries.
On 3 November 1428, Giovanni di Jacopo Bini, a wealthy Florentine merchant, bought the estate with nine pieces of land from Madonna Daria, widow of Antonio de’ Bardi, and in the following years his son Piero, a political figure close to Lorenzo the Magnificent, promoted the construction of the prestigious residence.
Between 1481 and 1483, the ‘casa da signore’ and the surrounding fields belonged to Bernardo Bini, who, in the following century, obtained high positions in pontifical finance in Rome as treasurer to Julius II and Leo X, and also had professional relations with the protagonists of the Renaissance, including Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raffaele Sanzio, Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli.
In the 17th century, I Tattoli, on which a number of neighbouring farms also depended, was the hub of important production activities from which conspicuous foodstuffs including oil, wine and cereals were obtained.
The villa, a true administrative centre, was assiduously frequented by the Bini family and their friends such as Giovanni Bilivert, a leading figure on the Florentine artistic scene, and the priest Pietro Bini, founder, together with Francesco Cerretani, of the Congregation of San Filippo Neri in Florence.
In the centuries that followed, I Tattoli continued to represent a vast estate characterised by cultivated fields, olive groves and vineyards while the main residence underwent extensions and modernisation; in 1847 Lorenzo Bini, the last descendant of the family, called his sister Beatrice’s nephew, Lorenzo dei conti Smaghi Bellarmini, to the inheritance.
Even today, the members of this family, guardians of the history and traditions of these places, with commitment and dedication promote the excellent food and wine produced at I Tattoli, appreciated in Italy and throughout the world.
