Debbie Travis just recently finished the renovation of a lifetime in a lifetime of renovations. No, it wasn’t at her Queen and Spadina condo. It was across the pond.
The celebrated British-Canadian interior decorator who has brought her talents to television (as host of the award-winning The Painted House) and print (she authored eight decor bestsellers as well as a syndicated newspaper column) is now the proud owner of a fully kitted out 14-suite Italian villa. (Obviously, she did the kitting.)
What does a media magnate with residences in London, Montreal and Toronto want with an oversized Tuscan casa? To share it of course — and la dolce vita that goes along with it. She has made it her business to invite strangers to partake in her love of Italy and its culture.
“I filmed in Italy about 15 years ago for one of my design series, and I absolutely fell in love with the country. I had a dream of doing the Under the Tuscan Sun bit,” says Travis, speaking from her London abode, having recently returned from Italy. “I thought, ‘One day, if I can afford it, I’ll buy myself a little cottage.’ ”
But the Under the Tuscan Sun bit — in which, as per the celebrated Frances Mayes book-turned-movie, an American woman refurbishes a Tuscan property and rediscovers herself in the process — is set in digs a tad more extravagant than a cottage. Travis stayed true to that inspiration.
After eight years of house (and cottage and monastery) hunting, she settled on a place that would make Frances Mayes proud: a 13th-century, 800-year-old villa that sits on a 100-acre lavender and olive tree farm. Actually, it does make Frances Mayes proud. The author resides in a neighbouring property and has become Travis’s dear friend.
“I didn’t just want to do up a house and look at my husband for the next 20 years,” Travis says. “I thought, ‘What if I shared it and tried to recreate what I got out of this place for other people?’ ”
So began a four-year project to renovate the villa and Travis’s career in the process. She now runs regular Tuscan women’s retreats and health and wellness weeks at her villa.
“This has completely changed my whole life. I’m now a farmer and I have terrible fingernails,” jokes Travis.
“It’s been a big transition, and it feels so authentic because I’m feeling the same as many of the women who come on retreat. They’ve been in the same job for many years, and they’re wondering if there’s something else out there. I’m in that position. I’ve been making television shows for 20-odd years, and it doesn’t excite me as much as it once did. You start looking for something that has you waking up every morning going, ‘I just cannot wait to buy those kitchen taps for my Tuscan farm.’ ”
Despite her desire to remake herself for this next chapter of her life, Travis can’t help but remain close to her decor roots. She brought all her accumulated design knowledge to bear on the villa project and gets breathless describing kitchen taps and air conditioning alike.
Not only has the villa project given Travis a novel outlet for her decorating passion — it also has been her largest project yet. The entire four-year reno process was recorded for a documentary series that is now in the editing room and will probably be released sometime next year.
(Image: Max Rosenstein)
For Travis fans who don’t want to wait, a glimpse of the show (and villa) is coming soon, thanks to another beloved Canadian TV maven and frequent Travis collaborator: Marilyn Denis.
“I’ve been on Marilyn’s show for many, many years,” explains Travis. “The last few years she’s been quite intrigued by what I’ve been doing, and I’ve been asking her on air, to put her on the spot, to come and see me. After asking her a dozen times she finally said, ‘Right, I’m coming!’
“We tested the toilet seat and the linens and the rooms on her. While she was there, we filmed segments as a double whammy — part for my show and part for hers. She had a great time. I had to kick her out in the end.”
From the activities Travis describes, Denis is justified in wanting to hang around Tuscany a while longer. The pair was guided by the in-house Italian chef through pizza making with the villa’s 400-year-old external pizza oven. They toured the vineyard and the local village (population: 60, approximate average age: 86). They went jewellery shopping in a local palazzo. They made limoncello from Travis’s lemon tree. And that’s just to start.
Travis and Denis also conducted an interview with Mayes, to hear a first-hand description of the ethos behind the quest for la dolce vita.
“We spoke about why this is a sweet life and what makes this place so special,” Travis says. “It was quite an emotional interview with Marilyn. Frances is extremely articulate, and I think Marilyn was really moved by her story, which was nice.”
Somehow in their June week of near-constant filming, Travis and Denis also found time to relax together and deepen their friendship. Viewers will get a chance to watch their dynamic onscreen when Travis co-hosts the live September 7 episode of Denis’s show dedicated to their travels.
Travis is looking forward to her short Toronto stopover for hosting duties (as she also preps for three upcoming retreats.)
“I love going out in Toronto,” says Travis. “Most of my Canadian social life is there.”
Toronto isn’t Tuscany, but no matter where she is, Travis seeks out the sweet life.
Follow Debbie Travis’s Tuscan adventures on her website and via Twitter.
