Features to Look for in a Tuscan Style Home

Home Plans Inspired by Tuscany Offer Old World Charm and Elegance along with Casual Living Desired by Today’s Family

From Florence to Siena and Pisa, the Tuscany region of Italy is filled with quaint villas and homes built on sloping hills in the picturesque countryside. You don’t have to live there to experience Tuscany at its best and most magical. Today, you can recreate the Old World charm and allure of Tuscan style homes in your own hometown.

Of all the regions in Italy, Tuscany is, perhaps, the most beautiful, with its gorgeous landscapes and vistas. And Tuscan style homes manage to bring that natural beauty into the overall design. With elegant, classic exterior lines and rustic, earth-tone interiors, the Tuscan house plan oozes comfort, ease, warmth, and hospitality.

A typical Tuscan-inspired home with a stucco exterior of warm earth tones and gabled roof, this two-story Tuscan style home has three bedrooms, two baths, porch and courtyard.

What makes Tuscan style home plan designs unique?

The Tuscan style originated from the Etruscans, the first settlers of the region. Over centuries of different eras and various influences, design ideas evolved into a classic and elegant architectural form.  From the natural materials used, to the colors, landscapes, exterior, and interior designs, and furnishings, the Tuscan home is set apart from other styles. The most striking elements are the clean and simple lines of stucco exteriors and stone facades set in shades of dark brown, gold, yellow, and burnt orange. Their gabled roofs covered with terra cotta tiles are also quite distinctive.

    >>  Other exterior features include wrought iron gates, cobblestone driveways, front gardens, courtyards, fountains, arched doorways, and long windows.

    >>  The interior of a typical Tuscan home is highlighted by a fireplace bordered by stone, large, comfortable sofas, wrought iron furnishings, floors with terra cotta tiles or hardwood, high ceilings with wood beams – all in rich, earth colors that recall the Tuscan country and its amazing landscape. The interior floor plans often accentuate an open feel consistent with its casual yet elegant design. Accents and touches enhance the rustic, simple, and elegant. 

    >>  Natural Materials - The tradition of using stone, granite, marble, and wood dates back to Tuscany’s earliest history when the first settlers used natural materials available

    >>  Colors – Inside and outside, Tuscan style homes repeat earth tones and sometimes a splash of blue and brick red reminiscent of the Mediterranean. No other house design uses a similar color scheme for exteriors and interiors.   

    >>  Landscapes/Gardens – A Tuscan style home is not complete without landscaped grounds with plants, flowers, shrubbery, maybe, even a few lemon trees that are typical of a Tuscan garden.

Above, the two-story, four-bedroom Tuscan style home plan features a covered porch, arched doorway, courtyard entertaining area, lanai, French doors, and tall windows. Trees, plants and flowers are part of the landscape. The free-form swimming pool with hot tub creates a backyard setting ideal for relaxing or entertaining under the sun.

Deep brown hues for the chairs, door and hardwood floors contrast with the stone façade in this home. Take a look at the wrought iron sconces… and the lighter shades of brown and orange on the sundeck. Potted plants complete the look for this Tuscan house plan.

High ceilings with wood beams and long chandeliers add to the charm of this living-dining-kitchen open floor plan space left). Again, shades of gold, red, orange, and brown are prevalent in the color scheme in this area and the bedroom. 

Where the Tuscan style is most popular

Tuscan–inspired homes are built all over the world, especially in areas with moderate climates. In the United States, these architectural designs are popular in California, Florida, and Texas, where it’s sunny and warm for most of the year. In the Texas Hill Country - with its hills, valleys, and cypresses that mimic Tuscany’s topography - the Tuscan style house plan is very fashionable among potential homeowners and builders.  

Why the Tuscan design is “hot” today 

Ten years ago, the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” created a mild frenzy among architecture enthusiasts who all wanted to go “Tuscan” with their homes. The interest is still alive and well among those who love classic lines combined with the modern. The Tuscan home is a perfect balance of the grand and the rustic.  In its versatility, it can fulfill the dreams of people who want to recapture the charm of that amazing Old World villa in Italy; and who love the warm, inviting surroundings of a rustic farmhouse

If the ultra-modern house is not your style, perhaps, the Old World charm and soothing, earth tones of the Tuscan home design’s clean and classic lines will captivate you.