Classical living you can Count on

An Italian palazzo featured in a Tod's commercial is on the market for $33 million

Villa Volpi on the Italian coast.

A neoclassical mansion in the south of Italy is the perfect spot for anyone looking to live a life like a scene from a TV commercial.

Villa Volpi, a palazzo on the coast 96km from Rome, is featured in an advertisement for Tod's, the luxury accessories company.

The spot features a gaggle of beautiful young people lounging among the villa's ancient columns, reading books, thinking deep thoughts and admiring each other's shoes. "An Italian moment," a title proclaims, as the sun sets and a couple frolic in the surf.

For US$33 million (Dh121.2m) the Tod's lifestyle - or at least the image portrayed in the ad - is available for sale.

The estate looks like something out of Greek mythology, fronted by wide steps and white columns. The design follows the "tradition of Palladio, as well as ancient Greek architecture", the listing notes.

The house is located within 10.5 hectares of national park and fronts 400 metres of Mediterranean beaches and dunes, which "protect the residence from prying eyes". The other end of the property offers access to a lake and "year-round water-skiing".

The estate is the creation of the Countess Nathalie Volpi di Misurata, "an aristocrat with a reputation for impeccable taste and refined elegance who enlisted celebrated Milanese architect Tomaso Buzzi to build the palazzo in 1960", the website Luxist reports.

The countess was married to the late Count Volpi di Misurata, an industrialist who also owned Palazzo Volpi, a 17th-century estate in Rome designed by Alessandro Specchi, who also designed the Spanish Steps in Rome.

The estate has hosted notable guests "from celebrities to royalty, society and international dignitaries", Luxist says. The seven-bedroom main building is augmented by a three-bedroom guest house, a two-bedroom cottage and stables.

"This home fosters an incredibly peaceful and glamorous way of life," the listing agent Clarice Pecori Giraldi of Christie's International Real Estate told the site, "bringing together a unique location in Italy - where waterfront properties of this scale are extremely rare - with the incredible sophistication of classical architecture."