Finding Bagni di Lucca

We discovered Bagni di Lucca nearly four years ago at the beginning of our first serious property hunting trip. We had decided to start our search in the hills north of Lucca, as well as look further afield in the Garfagnana and Lunigiana.

These two beautiful but lesser-known areas of northwest Tuscany remain rich in history, home to numerous castles and mountain villages, and largely untouched by tourism. We chose Bagni di Lucca, which lies at the edge of the Garfagnana, as our base for the first part of our trip, mainly because one of our estate agents is located there.

After arriving in Pisa on the late flight from London, we reached the Hotel Corona in the dead of night where our magnificent and gracious host Roberto welcomed us. We chose this hotel on the recommendation of our estate agent, as we did not know the area very well, and we made an excellent choice. This great hotel, located on the edge of town, provides comfortable rooms and friendly, personal service on top of superb food in the restaurant.

During the next two or three days, we spent most of our time viewing several properties in the area around Bagni di Lucca; however, we also found time to explore the town. We strolled through the streets, drank coffee and wine in the bars, ate ice cream at the gelaterie, and dined in the ristoranti. We even found a favourite lunch spot, Ristorante da Bruno, which serves fantastic white truffles from the area.

Later that week, as our search took us further into the Garfagnana and Lunigiana, we discovered the delights of many towns and villages and enjoyed spectacular mountain scenery. However, when we returned to Bagni di Lucca on the last night before heading home, the town felt comfortable to us. Somehow it had become a familiar place to return to after exploring the new and unfamiliar, even though we had been there for the first time only five days earlier.

Although we didn't find a house on that trip, Bagni di Lucca captured us in a way. We returned several times during the following few years to stay at the Hotel Corona, eat at Ristorante da Bruno and enjoy the sights and attractions of the area. And although our search for an Italian home took us to many different parts of the country, I'm not really surprised that we finally bought our house here.

An Auspicious Sign

I found my horoscope today very satisfying. It reads:

"Long-term investments, especially those involving property, could pay off at this time. If you have been thinking of buying or selling a home, this is the time to do it. . ."

Not that I actually believe in this sort of thing, but hey, we will take any help we can get!

Getting Closer

Although it often seems to me that nothing is happening, in fact, the process is actually moving along roughly as planned. Lawyers, estate agents and bankers have exchanged documents, performed legal searches and valued the property. We have even started to zero-in on a date for completion, now tentatively planned for mid-February.

Meanwhile, we're still thinking about about kitchens, bathrooms and furniture.

Funding the Dream

One thing that I keep forgetting until I experience it again: the act of spending money is very different from planning to spend money.

During the four years of contemplation the led to our Italian property purchase, I have rigorously planned and re-planned, modelled and re-modelled the financial consequences of the transaction. This involved creating financial scenarios that included different houses in different locations, wildly fluctuating budgets, and sometimes staggering amounts of debt combined with highly suspect projections of capital gains, interest rate moves and foreign exchange fluctuations.

As a result, I am making this purchase with with my eyes wide open. I completely understand and have come to terms with the financial impact (and the uncertainties involved) from a personal cash flow and balance sheet perspective. The picture is not entirely pretty, but certainly within my tolerance for superfluous spending and assuming unnecessary debt.

Yesterday, however, cold reality hit as I started writing cheques. Well, I did not really write any cheques. I actually transferred the funds using my bank's web site, but "writing cheques" provides a stronger visual image, so go with me on this.

Despite the detailed planning and preparation, despite knowing that the transaction will not bankrupt us, despite the fact that we are fulfilling a long-held ambition of owning a house in Italy, writing the cheques still hurts.

During the past two days, I have paid the deposit on the property (big hurt), the contract registration tax (little hurt), a valuation fee (almost painless), and the agent's brokerage (medium hurt, but worth it). Still to come will be the surveyor's fee, a notary fee (more than you would think), numerous and sometimes large taxes and registration fees (yes, Italian bureaucracy is still going strong), and of course officially taking on the huge mortgage obligation at completion.

Of course, the real fun begins once we actually own the house. Kitchen, bathrooms, re-plastering, re-wiring, furniture. . .

I will keep you posted, but now I'm going to take some ibuprofen.

A Villa in Bagni di Lucca

Friday proved a momentous day: I signed a preliminary contract of sale to purchase our villa in Bagni di Lucca. This event brings us a step closer to the culmination of our four-year quest to purchase an Italian property, a process that included countless hours of internet searches on Italian property websites and multiple trips across Italy’s regions of Abruzzo, Le Marche, Liguria, and mostly Tuscany.

I suppose I should not be surprised that our journey ended in the place where it started. Our first serious property-hunting trip began in Bagni di Lucca, and we immediately fell in love with the charms of the town that 19th century English visitors dubbed "the Switzerland of Tuscany." So, perhaps it was inevitable that after searching virtually the length and breadth of the peninsula for the right house in the right location, we finally found what we were looking for back here in this quiet corner of Tuscany.

The historic old spa town of Bagni di Lucca sits in the “Val di Lima,” the valley of the river Lima, a beautiful green area in northwest Tuscany about 20 kilometres north of Lucca. Hills and mountains dotted with small towns and villages surround the town, many of which seem almost lost in time.

The town was once famous for its thermal springs and frequented for centuries by writers, poets, artists, noblemen, politicians, saints and popes. During the peak of its popularity in the 19th century, famous names such as poets Byron, Shelley, Browning, writers like Dumas, musicians such as Strauss, Listz, Paganini, Puccini along with other personalities of the day all could be found in Bagni di Lucca at one time or another, taking the waters and planning future activities at leisure. The town was also home to the first licensed casino in Europe and allegedly where Roulette was invented, although today the casino is no longer in operation.

Our villa is tucked away behind a few other houses, directly on the banks of the river Lima and not far from the centre of town. While the house does not need restoration, it does need some modernisation, renovation and redecoration. We are looking forward with great anticipation to completing the sale transaction, hopefully within the next two or three weeks. Then the fun really begins!

The villa:

Our view from the villa looking across the Lima:

On these pages, we will share our new experiences with you as we explore and learn more about Bagni di Lucca and the Val di Lima, and begin our project to renovate our villa and make it our base to pursue la dolce vita.