Turning off a dust track on the route from Buonconvento to Montalcino in Italy's Val D'Orcia, there is a small 10th-century Longobard church once used on the old pilgrim's trail, the Via Francigena, for those making the journey from Canterbury to Rome. It is owned by Massimo Ferragamo, son of the late Salvatore Ferragamo and responsible for the US operations of the luxury fashion house. The light-filled clearing in which the church sits is hidden by willow, chestnut and oak. Not only does it feel like a chance find but the simplicity of the architecture is appealing - the curvature of the vaulted apse, the satisfying proportions. And there can't be many places left like this in the Val D'Orcia - it is where The English Patient was filmed, and arguably Tuscany's most beautiful region.

Ferragamo is currently stabilising the ruin's foundation, bringing in archaeologists to catalogue findings. Cultural philanthropy, he explains, is a vital part of his vision for the 4,500-acre Castiglion del Bosco estate, or CdB, in which the little church is located. His sense of stewardship is also evident in the already completed restoration of another chapel on the property, Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo with its 1345 Pietro Lorenzetti fresco. But this is only a single element of a much more ambitious project: the estate's rare potential to rewrite how the luxury villa holiday currently works.