At Home in Tuscany

Actress Debi Mazar and her husband, Gabriele Corcos, who co-host Cooking Channel's Extra Virgin, spend most of the year in Brooklyn with their daughters, Evelina and Giulia. But for a few weeks every summer, the family escapes to Gabriele's great-grandfather's 14th-century farmhouse in Fiesole, Italy. 

Located about 20 minutes outside of Florence, La Casa Rosa ("the pink house," as they call it) sits on 185 acres of rolling hills dotted with olive, apricot and persimmon trees. Gabriele's extended family still lives on the property, and he loves coming back here to cook for everyone — despite the less-than-modern setup: He relies almost exclusively on the wood-burning stove. Most nights, you'll find him tending to beans or locally made sausage over the fire, or preparing salads with heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables from their garden. If Gabriele has his way, he'll honor his ancestors by turning the farm into a cooking school someday. "I want to recoup the past," he says.

The birds, including the handmade rooster behind the ladder, have become a common motif for Debi. "He's named Renato, and he's the house mascot," she says.

A green glass jug from the 1940s, which the couple bought in the town of Empoli, has two compartments: one for wine and one for ice.

Debi and Gabriele use this 300-year-old mortar and pestle to make pesto, rubs and salt mixes for curing pancetta. 

Debi and Gabriele built this pizza oven for their show, Extra Virgin. Gabriele likes burning almond or walnut wood for pizzas. "I often go through the woods with a chainsaw!" he says.