308 Sorono Drive, Greenville, SC 29609

Hand-cut cedar beams run the length of the kitchen and keeping room, and arched Pella doors open to Juliette balconies and a flagstone terrazza where the lights of downtown Greenville come up at dusk. This is 308 Sorono, a Tuscan villa the original owners built in 2007 after traveling through Europe to source its materials by hand. You cannot measure a home like this against today's construction. The craftsmanship sits in a different category, and you feel it the moment the front door swings open. Inside the gates of Montebello, in the village section known as Villaggio, the home reads like a piece of the Italian countryside set down above the Blue Ridge foothills. Gracious gas lanterns flank the arched doors leading to a two-story foyer with an iron-railed staircase setting the tone at the door. Imported lighting, hand-forged ironwork, travertine and oak floors, and arched doorways carry through every room. Ceilings reach eleven feet on the main level, framed by extensive crown and...