Villa in Italia

Primavera

2009-04-26T15:15:00.004+01:00

Although spring has finally arrived in London, we're really looking forward to returning to the villa next weekend, as I hear that la primavera has arrived will full force in Italia.

I'm also looking forward to seeing the progress on the footbridge across the Lima, linking the gardens and car park of the Villa Fiori next door with Ponte a Serraglio. During our last visit, we saw that the structure now spans the width of the river, and it looked like it was nearly complete. I'll put up some pictures after our next visit.

Earthquake

2009-04-08T14:58:00.003+01:00

We are very thankful that we did not feel any effects from Monday's devestating earthquake in Abruzzo. The destruction and loss of life are terrible and our thoughts are with all of the victims.

If you want to contribute to the rescue efforts, the National Italian American Foundation has started an Abruzzo Relief Fund and the Croce Rossa Italia is also very active in providing relief and assistance to the victims.

Headed Back

2009-04-02T07:51:00.003+01:00

We're headed back to the villa for an extended stay for the first time since mid-February. I'm looking forward to some Spring sunshine, although when I checked the weather yesterday, it had been raining for days and expected to rain all week. Hopefully it will be all "rained out" by this weekend and we can enjoy some good weather. Fingers crossed.

Italian Art

2009-02-27T07:15:00.000Z

While wasting time on the internet last weekend, I came across a site that turns photos into drawings. I thought I'd see what the villa would look like as a drawing. Here's the result in two different styles.

Mi piace molto!

Visiting in Mid-Winter

2009-02-25T08:14:00.001Z

We spent a long weekend in Bagni di Lucca recently, and although it's still very much winter, I think I detected some faint signs of Spring around the corner. The nights were still cold (sometimes close to 0 C), but the bright, sunny days warmed up to 10 C, providing a refreshing change from grey, cold and damp London.

Fewer tourists also means it's easier to get around. Of course, Florence is always crowded, but in February it seems almost deserted compared with the heaving masses clogging the streets during the height of summer.

All-in-all, a great time to relax, stroll through the towns and cities and eat great food. Can't wait to get back!

Renting the Villa

2009-01-09T07:30:00.000Z

Now you can enjoy the charms of Bagni di Lucca and Tuscany and rent the villa for your holiday or short break.

We had trouble deciding whether or not to offer the villa as a holiday let (I'm not terribly fond of the idea of strangers living in our house), but in the end we decided that renting provides a good way to offset some of the costs, especially as the house would otherwise remain empty most of the time.

Of course, we worry about damage and wear and tear, particularly as we have just renovated the house and bought new furniture. However, I've noticed in my experience as a renter of houses that they are normally in pretty good condition, so I've concluded that most holiday renters take pretty good care of the property.

Of course, I have no concerns about any of this blog's readers renting the villa, as I'm sure that you would take the utmost care of the property.

So, if you fancy a stay at the villa, you can find the listing here on Holiday-Rentals in the UK, and here on HomeAway in the USA. There's also a link to the listing on the sidebar of this blog.

We hope you will get the chance to visit Bagni di Lucca. Bienvenuto!

Happy New Year

2009-01-06T13:01:00.005Z

We spent New Year's weekend in Bagni di Lucca and enjoyed a relaxing stay. The roof has been repaired - three tiles were cracked when the TV satellite was installed and that was enough, with all the heavy rains in December, to cause the leak. As expected, there was no real damage, and we'll just need a lick of paint to the bedroom wall to remove the water stain.

After the deluge in December, fortunately it rained only one day. The temperature, however, was colder than normal, hovering around freezing and only rising to about 5 or 6 Celsius during the day. Despite the temperature, the area remains beautiful and charming even in winter, and quieter, with few tourists.

We took a drive to the nearby ski resort of Abetone, and while snow in Bagni di Lucca is rare, plenty had fallen and accumulated just a few miles up the mountain - several feet in fact! The resort was packed with skiers, so it must be a popular spot.

Much of the small amount of remaining work in the house has been completed, and only some landscaping and clean-up left to complete in the driveway and garage area. We're already planning our next visit and I'm especially looking forward to the warm spring and summer weather, which can't come soon enough!

Leaky Roof

2008-12-13T14:02:00.002Z

The rains that have swelled our river have also caused a problem in our house. The roof has started to leak.

When we renovated the house, we replaced many roof tiles to ensure the roof would remain watertight. We rely entirely on these tiles to hold out the rain as there is no waterproof membrane or lining beneath them. Normally, this provides perfectly adequate protection from the elements, and I am told that is a relatively common roof structure for old houses in the area.

We think that some of the tiles may have become cracked when we installed the TV satellite dish, and this, combined with the very heavy rains, has caused the leak. I say we "think," because the rain has not stopped long enough for anyone to go up to the roof to find the problem and fix it!

Meanwhile, water has soaked into the middle bedroom's wall. It probably will not cause any real damage - the walls are stone after all. We will just need to re-paint and perhaps repair a bit of plaster, but we're still anxious to fix the leak as soon as possible.

The rain has to stop sometime doesn't it?

A River Wild

2008-12-10T18:30:00.001Z

What a difference some rain makes. Well, actually, a lot of rain.

Back in Bagni di Lucca last weekend, the river had really risen from when I last saw it in October. A furious torrent filling almost the entire riverbed had replaced the shallow waters running over and between rocks, and the ugly concrete barrier had become a flowing waterfall.

Here's what the river looked like last summer:

A Brief Visit

2008-09-25T12:35:00.007+01:00

This weekend we return to Bagni di Lucca for the first time in almost five weeks. We have missed both the town and the villa during during these weeks and look forward to returning.

Now that we have finished most of the work, we can spend a restful weekend and with a little luck, enjoy some Autumn sunshine. It will be a refreshing change from London's grey September skies.

Unfortunately, we can only stay for a long weekend. I know our stay will seem much too short and before we know it, it will be time to leave.

Hopefully we can spend more time there during the coming months. Autumn and Winter in northern Tuscany are much quieter than in the summer, and even in Winter, the weather seems nice to those of us who have become accustomed to the cold, wet and dreary days in London or New England.

I've got a backlist of about thirty books to read that I hope to tackle between now and Springtime while sitting in front of a comfortable and warming fire.

A Delightful Garden

2008-09-01T18:30:00.002+01:00

In some ways, the garden turned out best of all. The beautiful stone patio bordered by the new rose garden provides a peaceful oasis for reading, eating and relaxing in the beautiful Tuscan summers.

Bathrooms

2008-08-30T12:00:00.001+01:00

I know you've seen some of this before, but I couldn't resist showing the bathrooms again. They really came out great.

The upstairs with its grey and white tile:

The expanded downstairs bathroom, with new laundry area and shower, also came out well.

Next post, out to the garden. . .

Bedrooms

2008-08-28T18:30:00.001+01:00

We've made each of the bedrooms a little different from each other, but they share an understated and comfortable look.

The main bedroom with its rich wooden furniture. . .

the simplicity of the second double bedroom. . .

and the coziness of the twin bedroom. . .

More to come. . .

Kitchen and Living Room Photos

2008-08-26T18:30:00.002+01:00

As promised, but a little late, I've taken some pictures of the house that is now 98% finished. We are terribly pleased with the result, especially the kitchen.

The main living room is spacious and inviting.

The room facing the river with the large fireplace has turned out great - an especially comfortable room for reading and relaxing.

I will save pictures of the bedrooms upstairs for the next post.

Settling In

2008-08-14T14:29:00.003+01:00

We arrived late Friday night to find the house and garden in great shape. Almost everything is done inside and out. In the garden, the landscaping is complete with new lawn, flowers and shrubbery. We found the inside in the same condition, with everything spotless and complete.

We've spent the first few days here shopping for various odds and ends, including some rugs, pictures and other various decorative items. I think we're finally about shopped-out, which is good since we've also just about tapped-out the wallet!

Now, we're looking forward to a few days of nothing but rest! I will post some new pictures soon.

Zipping Around Town

2008-08-08T16:00:00.001+01:00

I'm considering getting one of these, as I think it would come in very handy for tooling around town.

Plus, Vespas are cool!

Of course, there's always the danger of falling and breaking my arm (or head!).

And then there's this potential image factor to consider. . .

An Extended Stay

2008-08-08T08:30:00.002+01:00

Tonight we leave for a two-week summer holiday at our newly renovated villa. We can't wait to see how the remaining work has turned out, especially in the garden, where the grass should be laid and the flowers and shrubs planted.

Originally, we thought we would spend this time helping to finish up the renovation work (really watching, actually) and getting everything in order, but our project manager and crew have done such a great job of getting things done, all that's left is really some finishing touches.

So, instead of running around trying to get things done, we can spend two delightful weeks picking out and hanging pictures, shopping for antiques, eating and generally loafing about. I view this as fantastic news, as it will give us an opportunity to really enjoy our new house, and besides, I really need the break!

I will try provide updates and photos during the next two weeks, but the mobile broadband signal is sometimes a bit dodgy, so wish me luck.

A New Bridge

2008-08-07T18:00:00.002+01:00

Our house is not the only place in the neighbourhood under construction. Work began earlier this year on a footbridge across the Lima, only a few dozen metres from our house. Although they started work in the spring, things appear to have come to a pause, as we did not see much progress between our last two visits.

You can see the base of the bridge under construction in the picture below on the far right. Our house is at the far left, still half white, half-yellow.

The other side of the bridge will connect here:

When finished, the bridge will span the river at this point.

You will notice that the not much water currently runs through the riverbed. I am told that they have reduced the flow by closing a dam further up river so that they can complete the construction. They have also filled in a lot with rocks and built a barrier across it (below). Before, this area was filled with rushing rapids.

Supposedly, once the water flow is restored, this will again become rapids and the barrier will form a waterfall. I hope this happens soon, as the sound of the gushing water in the river is a great feature of our house. We would like to enjoy it!

Retail Awareness

2008-08-06T13:02:00.021+01:00

We found that furnishing and outfitting a house from nothing has brought the added benefit of giving us a thorough knowledge of where to buy stuff all over Lucca province and the surrounding area. We found some of the places by accident, but thankfully our project manager/translator/nanny steered us to most of them.

In the course of our quest for sofas, tables, garden furniture and book-ends, we've shopped at high-end furniture shops, DYI stores, low-end furniture shops, antique shops, garden centres, flea markets, junk stores, electronics super stores and everything in between.
From Mondo Convenienza and Che Meraviglia for indoor and outdoor furniture, Brico and OBI for DIY, and Mercatone Uno for a little bit of everything, it seems like we have visited every big-box Italian retailer. And, of course, Ikea. We've even wandered through the Altopascio Mercatone Uno so many times that the furniture lady recognises us!

We've also found things in unexpected places. After looking everywhere for mattress covers, we finally found them in Esselunga, the supermarket. And we found some really great framed Puccini opera posters in a market stall on the streets of Lucca.

For all the fun, shopping for household items did present us with challenges, especially with language. With only a few shop employees speaking English (naturally enough), and my Italian remaining problematic, communicating exactly what we wanted did not always happen smoothly. However, persistence usually paid off, and through a combination of fractured Italian phrases, English and lots of hand gestures we managed to complete quite a few transactions.

Most of all, the experience proved a big confidence builder, both in using the language and in gaining the ability to accomplish what would be routine tasks at home in a different and sometimes intimidating environment.

Landscaping

2008-08-05T18:00:00.003+01:00

Although we have done far more work (and spent much more money) on the garden than we originally intended, we do not regret it. The stone patio makes all the difference in the world, and I cannot wait to see the lawn.

Of course, to properly complete the garden, we must now decide upon what plants and shrubbery to plant. During our last trip, the landscaper brought a number of samples for us to see and choose from.

Unfortunately, our indispensable project manager / interpreter was not there when we discussed the options with the landscaper, and my Italian remains pretty rudimentary despite all of the lessons, so we're not really sure exactly what we chose in the end.

I'm sure we did get across that we wanted red and white flowers, and we're pretty sure about the shrubbery and hedges, but we will wait with great anticipation to see what we actually get.

Outfitting the Kitchen

2008-08-02T11:45:00.002+01:00

I have always wanted to outfit a kitchen from scratch. The thought of creating a fully equipped kitchen with complete new sets of matching plates, pots, pans, glasses, flatware and cooking utensils fills me with great joy.

I thought I might do this when we moved into our new flat in London a couple of years ago, but truth be told, most of our existing kitchen stuff was still very good, plus we liked it, so I settled for augmentation rather than complete replacement. So, I have been looking forward to setting up the villa's kitchen for months.

The big day finally arrived last Saturday. We had previously scouted out a couple of stores for this purpose, and ultimately decided that Ikea in Florence was the best place to make the purchases. Not being a regular shopper in Ikea (we had only been to the London store once, and even that was a reconnaissance mission in anticipation of a visit to the Florence store), the selection, utility, quality and overall attractiveness of the kitchenware at Ikea impressed me.

The shopping experience turned out to be everything I expected and more! In the end, we filled up two full giant shopping carts of stuff (I wish I had taken pictures) and spent far more than I thought we would. It was great fun.

Sunday morning we took a trip to another store to pick up a few odds and ends we didn't get at Ikea. Instead, we ended up filling another giant shopping cart with more stuff, and dropping another few hundred euros.

We spent Sunday afternoon unpacking, unwrapping and putting everything away in the new kitchen. Luckily, not only did we not completely fill it up, we have room left over for more stuff should we desire (I'm hoping not!).

One More Big Change

2008-08-01T19:04:00.001+01:00

Before we left last Sunday, the painters started work on the outside of the house. What a difference it makes!

I am pleased to say that the colour came out as we expected. All of that wandering around matching paint chips to buildings seems to have paid off.

Here's a view of the work in progress from across the river.

An Amazing Transformation

2008-07-31T18:24:00.000+01:00

The garden has undergone nothing short of an an amazing transformation in the last two weeks. Remember this pile of rocks?

We dug up these paving stones from various parts of the garden and driveway. We found some on the surface as part of a dis-used pathway running alongside the house, and we found others buried around the trees and in the driveway.

We decided to use these stones to make a patio, which not only saved a huge amount of money, but also creates a very characteristic feature to the property as finding stones of this age and character has become very difficult (it's also a fun story to tell that the stones have come from the grounds of the house). The result: a fantastic stone terrace on which to enjoy the Tuscan summer.

In the remaining part of the garden , we removed one of the two trees. They had been planted too close to each other and had become too entwined. Leaving one tree alone will allow it to grow properly and it also looks much better. The ground has been levelled and we will lay sod in the next week to make a beautiful grass lawn in this area. The stone path leads to the stairway that goes up to the driveway and garage.

The Interior is Almost Finished

2008-07-31T13:07:00.016+01:00

We visited the house last weekend and to find that a building site has become a home. Almost everything inside is now complete except for some finishing work. We still need to hang the curtains in the bedrooms, install the shower doors and some hardware on the doors and shutters, and touch up the paint, but all of the big work is done.

The kitchen is everything we hoped for and more:

We have begun furnishing the living rooms. . .

. . .and the bedrooms:

We are almost ready for the finishing touches and we can now certainly stay in the house.

Outside, there's been an amazing transformation, which I will save for the next post.

Closer to the Finish

2008-07-22T15:35:00.008+01:00

Progress continues at a pretty steady pace, and it's all hands to the pumps to get things done before the end of the first week of August. That's when we plan on staying in the house for two weeks, so we want to have completed everything by then.

So far we have completed most of the interior work and everything looks great (I'm even growing to like the interior paint colour!). I especially like the main bathroom.

Some of the furniture has even been delivered.

Now that thet inside has been completed except for the final coats of paint and floor cleaning, much of the focus has shifted outside. These stones will soon become a patio.

The patio will be built in this area:

We've taken down one of the two huge pine trees in the garden as they were too close together. We had a bit of a scare when after we removed the tree, the remaining one began to sag towards the house, as it had been relying on its pair for support. The removal of a few large branches (which needed to go anyway) has seemed to solve this problem for now, and it does not appear to be in danger of falling, but we need to keep our eye on it.

The next couple of weeks are sure to be frantic ones, as we complete the stonework and landscaping in the garden.

The Latest Photos

2008-07-02T22:57:00.008+01:00

The kitchen is almost done:

Cabinet and bookshelves:

Things remain a little disorganised:

Someday this will be a stone patio:

Work on the roof and gutters is almost complete:

More Progress

2008-07-02T11:16:00.002+01:00

We visited the house last weekend to find a pretty chaotic scene, but looking past the confusion and clutter, the various builders and tradesmen had made significant progress. They have completed the bathroom tiling, almost completed the kitchen installation, painted the walls in all of the rooms with at least the first coat, installed the light fixtures and cleaned and stripped the floors. About half of the windows, doors and shutters have been stripped and re-painted and the remainder are in progress, and the cabinet and bookshelves in the living room have been built.

Most of the furniture has arrived, but because work continues to progress inside the house, most of it remains boxed up and stacked up in various rooms or else stored away in the garage. This of course contributes to the overall state of disarray.

Quite a bit of work remains outside. They have completed most of the work on the roof, replacing a number of tiles and ensuring it does not leak, and about half of the new copper guttering has now been installed. Exterior painting should happen in a few weeks.

Landscaping the garden is the next big job. First we will need to clear all the rubbish that has accumulated during the renovation. We then plan to build a stone patio and plant flowers and shrubs around the walls. The pathway from the garage to the street also needs significant clearing and pruning.

We met with two different landscapers Monday to get estimates, which we should have within a couple of days. The good news is that they say that they can complete the work by the end of July. The bad news (which we have not received but I know is coming) is that it will undoubtedly be expensive!

Pictures to follow. . .

Furniture Frenzy

2008-06-14T15:10:00.010+01:00

Before our last trip to Bagni di Lucca we set ourselves the task of purchasing the basic furniture for the house. Not knowing the delivery lead-times, we wanted to do this now to ensure that the house would at least contain a minimum amount of furniture by the end of July so that we can stay there during our August holiday.

So, armed with our shopping list and accompanied by our indispensible and fantistically efficient local project manager/interpreter, we set out to get as much accomplished as we could in one day. It really helped that we had made a couple of reconnaisance missions to the various shops during previous visits, so we had formed a pretty good idea of what we wanted and where to find it.

We hit about five or six different stores over the course of about ten hours and managed to get almost everything we set out to buy. Of course, we spent more than we wanted to spend, especially on one of the bedrooms, but overall I think we did pretty well.

The following day we struck out to choose mattresses and pick out a washing machine and dryer.

The final tally for the weekend: Main living room: one sofa, one comfy chair. Big fireplace room: two leather art deco style chairs with a footstool (to put by the big fireplace), one chaise lounge. Kitchen: dining table with six chairs. Bedroom one: wooden bed, two nightstands, a ginormous armoir. Bedroom two: iron bed, two nightstands, marble-topped chest. Bedroom three: two single iron beds, nightstand, normal-sized armoir, small desk and chair.

We still have several things we will need to buy, like tables, mirrors, lamps and assessories, but once August arrives, we should have enough of the basics in place to stay in the house.

Colour Madness Redux

2008-06-11T20:01:00.000+01:00

My acute (actually, it's probably chronic) colour-choice anxiety continues. The preliminary verdicts on the choices so far. . .

Main bathroom tiles: excellent. Although it is hard to see in this picture, in real life, they look great.

Kitchen wall: so far OK, but I have only seen it on a small patch on the wall.

Walls for main rooms: Yikes! I'm not convinced that this works. I think it might be too yellow. However, I've agreed to live with it a while and see. Maybe it will grow on me.

Still to be seen: shutters and doors, outside walls and the ground floor bathroom tiles.

Overall, I'm relieved that the tiles turned out well. If a paint colour doesn't work, we can always re-paint. But if we get the tile wrong, that's another story altogether!

Progress, Progress, Progress

2008-06-08T13:44:00.007+01:00

The builders and tradesmen have accomplished quite a bit since our last visit. They have finished the plumbing and electrical work, the trenches in the walls and floors made for the new pipes and wiring have been filled and plastered. . .

the bathroom tile work has begun. . .

the wall for the new ground floor bathroom is up. . .

and even the painting of the interior walls has started.

We expect them to complete the kitchen installation by mid-June and finish off the bathrooms and the interior paint work about the same time.

Although a huge amount of work remains, including all of the exterior painting, roof and gutter work, not to mention building the patio and a great deal of landscaping, things have progressed steadily so far. It looks like we may make it by the end of July after all. At least we are cautiously optimistic.

Puccini's Land

2008-05-22T19:09:00.003+01:00

By spending time in this part of Tuscany during the past few months, we have learned that this year marks the 150th anniversary of Giacomo Puccini's birth. Puccini was born in Lucca on December 22nd, 1858, is the most performed composer in the world, which I suppose anyone who knows anything about opera would already know (as you may know from reading my other blog, my knowledge of opera remains somewhat limited).

Throughout the year, many concerts, lectures and other events will celebrate this anniversary in "Giacomo Puccini's Land," which encompasses Lucca, city and province, and the surrounding areas including Bagni di Lucca.

From the 1890's onwards, Puccini lived mostly in Torre del Lago, a town about fifteen miles from Lucca, where he eventually built a villa on the lake now called the Villa Museo Puccini. During his time there, he wrote his most famous operas, La Bohème (1896), Tosca (1900) and Madama Butterfly (1904).

Puccini also spent time in Bagni di Lucca, and it was here that he wrote most of the opera Turondot, that remained unfinished at the time of his death in 1924. I do not know yet what specific events are planned for when we will be in the area, but hopefully we can catch some of them later this year.

The Madness of Colour

2008-05-19T20:50:00.008+01:00

For me, choosing colours provides one of the most fun (and anxiety inducing) activities of the renovation project. I've always had an idea of the colours we wanted, but transferring what's in my head to paint samples has proved a bit tricky.

First, to find a colour for the house exterior, we walked around town with a fan of paint sample cards, trying to match the colour of buildings we liked. I'm sure we looked a bit odd going from building to building, but in the end, we found one we liked. We chose an ochre-like yellow, which should look good if we got the match right.

The interior proved more challenging. To help make the decision, we bought about a dozen different sample-size paint cans in various shades of the colours we liked. We then painted them onto several wooden boards to see what they looked like together, and also in various lighting environments.

I thought this would make the decision easier, but it actually made it more difficult - they all looked good in the various combinations, but none fit exactly right. I became convinced that I was searching for a colour that did not actually exist, somewhere between sand, straw and hay.

At one point, we found the perfect colour for the kitchen on a restaurant's dining room walls, but we could not match it to the various sample cards we tried (I suppose I did look a bit silly in the restaurant trying to inconspicuously match paint samples to the wall). We even went as far as asking the restaurant manager if he knew the colour and paint brand, but with no success.

Eventually, the moment of truth arrived: we had to make a decision in the paint store. Armed with our chips and plywood "mood board," we chose the final colours - green (Celtic Forest) for the kitchen walls, the best approximation of the non-existent colour between sand, straw and hay for the walls in the rest of the house, and olive for the shutters and doors

I'm now experiencing a terrifying fear that we've chosen all the wrong colours (I've done it before), and they will look awful once actually on the walls. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I guess we'll just wait and see. After all, it's only paint.

Now, what about the bathroom tiles. . . ?

A Work in Progress

2008-05-17T12:47:00.014+01:00

We visited the villa at the beginning of this month to see how things have been progressing. As the pictures below will attest, much has happened. The builders have demolished and removed the existing kitchen and bathrooms, the plumber has removed the old pipes and installed the new plumbing and boiler, and the electrician has completed much of the new wiring in the kitchen and bathrooms.

It's amazing to see the thickness and composition of the stone walls when the trenches are dug for the pipes and wires. It least we can be sure that the house is sturdy!

Here are some comparisons of the house in its original state and what it looks like now. It will be fun to see the end result compared with these.

The kitchen before and now:

The ground floor bathroom:

The upstairs bathroom:

The garden (yikes!):

It looks a little scary, but we're happy that work is progressing on schedule, which does exceed my expectations. We will be back at the end of this month and should see quite a bit of progress. In fact, I'm told the builders have almost finished plastering of the walls.

Can't wait to get back and see how it's going.

Here's the Plan

2008-03-31T08:24:00.012+01:00

During the past few weeks, we have put together an outline of the work needed to get the house ready to use. We have been very fortunate to find a fantastic person locally to help us coordinate the renovation work. This has benefited us enormously, as she has already had the utilities connected and she knows the local tradesmen. Once we actually start work, I'm sure that we will find her invaluable.

So, here's the outline of what we will do over the next couple of months:

Replace the boiler for heat and hot water, re-plumb heating system and complete plumbing work required for the new kitchen and bathrooms.

Install a new circuit breaker and perform general remedial wiring work.

Strip out existing kitchen and bathrooms.

Replace and repair some roof tiles and install new guttering and downspouts.

Strip and refinish doors, window frames and woodwork and replace hardware where required.

Install new kitchen and main bathroom.

Redesign and expand ground floor bathroom to include a shower and room for a washing machine.

Strip and refinish floors.

Replace or restore if possible the iron gate to the road and install an electric opener.

Build a stone terrace and walkway in the garden.

Build a bookcase under the staircase.

Paint interior and exterior.

While the list seems extensive, it fortunately does not include major reconstruction work. The biggest jobs will be the bathrooms, where we will move a wall, do some re-plumbing and put in new stone tiles; the kitchen, which should be a pretty straightforward fitted-kitchen installation.

Bathroom that will be expanded to include a shower and space for the washing machine:

Main bathroom: everything must go!

A bookcase goes against the wall under the staircase. . .

We're going to Bagni di Lucca in two weeks to catch up on things locally and to pick out the fixtures for the kitchens and bathrooms. We can't wait!

Getting Started

2008-03-30T11:53:00.006+01:00

We haven't been back to Bagni di Lucca since we completed the purchase, but things have been happening nonetheless. The plumber, the electrician and the carpenter have all provided estimates for various pieces of work. Of course, we need to do a little more than we thought, but we kind of expected that.

Mostly it's the plumbing: we knew that we needed a new boiler, but the plumber says that we should probably replace the pipes that supply steam to the radiators as they are old and not in very good shape. This is one of those situations where everything is OK now, and could remain so for some time (maybe even for years). Conversely, the pipes could start cracking and leaking tomorrow.

In the end, we decided to go ahead and replace the pipes. It's more work and expense now, but much more peace of mind. Besides, the work involves trenching into the walls, so we would rather do it concurrently with the other work and while the house remains unoccupied.

Luckily, the old cast iron radiators are in great shape, and only need stripping and refinishing. These not only give character to the house, they also do a great job heating it. Apparently they are highly sought after and hard to find, so we're fortunate to have them.

Hopefully the plumbing work on can begin soon, and we're putting together the overall plan for everything else.

At this point we hope to be ready for late summer, but that may be optimistic!

A Map

2008-03-09T11:43:00.002Z

A map of the villa's location, courtesy of Google Maps and a suggestion from a reader, Jeffrey in Connecticut. You can click on the "SAT" button to view a satellite picture.

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Before. . .

2008-03-01T12:51:00.003Z

Just before the closing last week, I walked through the house to take stock of the work we will need to do. Luckily, aside from some repairs to the roof and gutters, the house does not require serious reconstruction work.

The biggest jobs will be fitting a new kitchen and bathrooms. Otherwise, we need to clean and restore the floors, strip and re-finish the woodwork on the doors and windows, update the electrics, paint the walls and some complete some other decoration work.

We're hoping to start the initial work within the next few weeks. If all goes well, we could finish by summer, but that may be too optimistic.

First step: clear out all the old junk!

Closing, Part 3 – The Finale

2008-02-29T23:52:00.002Z

We met in the notary's office to sign the final documents. The notary serves in an official capacity as a neutral party to facilitate the transaction. She ensures that all parties understand and accept the transaction's terms, certifies the transaction's legitimacy, completes the required documentation and, very importantly, makes sure that all parties pay the various taxes.

With my bank drafts in hand, I arrived at the notary's office where a secretary ushered me into a conference room to meet my translator. We were soon joined by the 95-year-old owner's daughter and son-in-law, who represented her with a power of attorney, along with the estate agent, the architect serving as “technical advisor” to certify the official title and registration documents, and the notary herself.

We had assembled to sign two main documents: the deed of sale itself and the mortgage deed. The process requires that the notary read the ten page deed of sale in its entirety out loud to us. The translator had prepared an English translation for me, and we followed along as the notary read in Italian. As the reading progressed, we stopped periodically to discuss certain points (apparently it was important that the document correctly identify the vendor as a housewife rather than a pensioner) and the notary modified the document in real-time on her computer.

The section that outlined the specific property included in the sale generated the most discussion (and confusion). This purchase does not include simply a house on one a single plot of land; rather the property consists of about four small parcels of land linked together, the house itself and a garage that is part of another house altogether.

As the notary read out each numbered parcel and the technical advisor verified it on the official documentation, we found inconsistencies in the documentation. We spent about twenty minutes clarifying what exactly we were buying and after much discussion, gesticulating and paper shuffling (see previous post) we finally achieved clarity, or at least an acceptable level of ambiguity, and we moved on.

Finally, after an hour of reading, discussing and modifying, the notary pronounced the document complete, printed out a clean, fresh copy that the vendor signed on each page. Now it was my turn, and at this point I committed a major blunder.

When told where to sign, I did – using a blue-ink pen. Horror or horrors. The notary chastised me immediately as my pen slid across the paper leaving the offensive blue markings. Apparently, everyone knows that one can only sign documents with black ink. Duly chastened, I signed the remaining pages in black, and apparently my transgression could be overlooked if it was contained to one page – it was never mentioned again.

I thought that we had finished at that point, but we still had to go through the same process for the twenty-four page mortgage deed. This document required less discussion, but it was the notary's responsibility to ensure that I had a full understanding the mortgage contract. This process took another 45 minutes

Finally, in a flurry of activity, everyone stood up, checks changed hands and we finished. All of a sudden, it was done.

I left, dazed, confused and with a significantly lighter wallet. But we now own the house!

Closing the Deal, Part 2

2008-02-27T16:06:00.007Z

Before signing the papers to close on the property, I visited the local bank to finalise the opening of my account and get the numerous bank drafts that I would need to hand over at the signing.

The process for setting up an account in Italy is not greatly different from doing so in the US or the UK, with one notable exception: Italian bankers possess an impressive array of rubber stamps, which they use with great enthusiasm at various points on dozens of documents.

An interesting dynamic, however, emerges in the process, one that often appears during complex (and often not-so-complex) interactions with Italians. I am not yet fluent in Italian (in fact, sometimes I can barely understand the language at all), but despite the language barrier, I have noticed a particular ritual occur in Italian transactions, even when there is no actual negotiation involved (like opening a bank account, for example).

The first person will make a request or a statement. In response, the counterparty will frown, perhaps make a "hmmmm" sound, and then launch into a sometimes impassioned, but often measured explanation of how difficult this will be, that it most likely cannot be done (impossible!) and certainly not within the time frame suggested.

An intense, but cordial, exchange follows for a few minutes, usually rich with repetition and gesticulation. Finally, as if they have reached an unspoken time limit, the parties miraculously agree. "OK, va bene," and it's done. Problem solved. On to the next item, where the process repeats itself.

You need to access the account this morning, today? I don't think we can do that. Four bank drafts by this afternoon? Impossible! Your address is in London? Hmmmm. You need internet access? We will need the special documents to be signed by the dirigente, and he is only here for one hour.

Watch carefully, and you will see this interaction play itself out repeatedly in Italy: in restaurants, at shops, at airports, and especially in banks and government offices. Nothing is simple or easy, but eventually, everything gets done.

In the end, we accomplished my banking tasks in about an hour. With the invaluable help of a translator to smooth the process, I signed a flurry of documents (stamp, stamp, stamp. . ), met the dirigente, got my bank card and secured the drafts to pay for the house.

So armed with my freshly minted drafts, I left the bank for the Notario's office to close the deal.

Closing is Complete

2008-02-21T21:19:00.008Z

All did not go according to plan on Monday. I left for Stansted airport before dawn at 5:00 AM so that I would arrive in Bagni di Lucca in time to visit the bank to sign papers and get the bank drafts required for the closing scheduled for 4:30 that afternoon. I also planned to visit the house to review the renovation work we may want done with the woman who will manage the work locally for us. Ah, the best laid plans. . .

I arrived at the airport to find it shrouded in fog – not a good sign, and after an hour's delay, they finally cancelled the flight. A mad dash back to the terminal followed, where a mob, formed from the diaspora of multiple cancelled flights, milled impatiently waiting to re-book. A quick survey of the situation told me that my best options lay elsewhere.

I caught the express train back to London, hoping to reach Gatwick airport in time to catch a later flight, and also hoping that my travel agent could find one, which she promptly did. Two trains and two tube rides later, I was on a plane to Pisa, but not in time to make the closing. Luckily, the estate agent had rearranged everything for Tuesday (thankfully everyone was available) and equally fortunately, my schedule allowed me to stay another day to get it done.

So, after twelve hours of travelling, I arrived at Roberto's hotel in time for a good night's rest before the activities now planned for Tuesday. In the end, everything on Tuesday went smoothly, although the process proved convoluted, long, sometimes amusing and always uniquely Italian. I will save that story for the next post, but for now, the villa is officially ours!

Ready to Go

2008-02-16T10:27:00.008Z

Monday is the big day. We have solved the problems, although I think we compromised a bit too much (caved, actually), and completed the paperwork. I am flying to Italy Monday morning to sign the papers and hand over a boatload of money. Then the house will be ours (well, and mostly the bank's)!

As I said before, now the fun part starts, although I guess we should do something about that roof first.

A Bump in the Road

2008-02-09T10:24:00.000Z

Things had been progressing smoothly until a couple of days ago. We have sorted out all of the paperwork set a date to sign the final contracts. Unfortunately, the survey of the property has uncovered some previously unkown problems with the roof: it's not actually waterproof! Nothing that cannot be fixed, but a costly problem that changes our perspective on the financial aspect of the transaction.

We have now resumed negotiations with the vendor to solve this problem and reach an agreement that satisfies everyone. I am confident that we can resolve this, and while I knew we would experience complications along the way, this development is still disappointing. We would hate to be forced to walk away now.

The Devil's Bridge

2008-02-02T13:02:00.000Z

I remember unexpectedly seeing the famous Ponte della Maddalena, also known as the Ponte del Diavolo (the Devil's Bridge), the first time we drove from Pisa to Bagni di Lucca. We immediately recognised this unique and beautiful landmark, originally built around 1100, from its appearance on a British TV property show about the area, but we had not known exactly where it was.

The bridge, notable for its unusual asymmetric arches, spans the river Serchio only a few kilometres from Bagni di Lucca in Borgo a Mozzano.

Legend has it that when the master mason building the bridge fell behind schedule, he made a pact with the Devil to finish the bridge in one night in exchange for the soul of whomever crossed it first. After the builder finished the bridge, he outsmarted the Devil by sending a pig across the bridge first, thus defeating the Devil and sending him back into the depths of the river.

The Devil has not been seen in the area since.

Finding Bagni di Lucca

2008-01-27T00:59:00.001Z

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

2008-01-26T03:21:00.000Z

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

2008-01-25T00:48:00.000Z

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

2008-01-15T18:28:00.001Z

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

2008-01-13T17:41:00.000Z

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.