In 2005 I bought a little stone house in Italy. It's the dream of many English people to own a stone house with olive trees somewhere hot and sunny but that dream takes a lot of blood,sweat and tears to come true and it's not over yet!
Sunday, 27 May 2012
Buyer Beware
With house that have a 20,000.00 euro price tag or less is it any wonder that so many of us are tempted onto Italian Estate Agency sites we find online? Of course I don't mean true Italian sites; these offer new appartments and ugly concrete boxes on the side of a road. I'm talking about sites that cater for English visitors with plenty of pretty stone ruins amongst the olives.
Here are just a few on offer currently:
We bought our house for very little and have been in a position to do lots of work ourselves but there have still been many problems that have meant we've needed professional help.Unfortunately in Italy this can mean spending may thousands every time.
In an old stone house thats covered in stucco its tricky to see what deteriation may have occured until you take the stucco off.In our house we have found holes as big as 1metre across filled with earth.Some internal beams were simply wooden branches which in time have rotted or been eaten by insects.Metal joists have been attacked by water and needed replacing and earthquakes over 100's of years have taken their toll on floor tiles.
How many people spending 20,000.00 euros bother to have a survey done? But if you buy a house without knowing the full extent of the problems do you have enough money to pay for the work, which could cost many times more than the house itself? If you can't afford a survey at least take a builder with you and get them to remove plaster, lift floor tiles, inspect wood etc and discover what may need to be spent.Otherwise your purchase could turn out to be a liability!
One thing you should not do is to install damp proof course or any dpm into an old stone house or you will be causing yourself future problems.If you concentrate on removing any cement and also cleaning block drains and clearing earth that's piled up in front of walls outside you may well need to let the house 'dry out for a couple of years' but from then on you should have no more damp problems without spending huge amounts of money.
Here are just a few on offer currently:
We bought our house for very little and have been in a position to do lots of work ourselves but there have still been many problems that have meant we've needed professional help.Unfortunately in Italy this can mean spending may thousands every time.
Check wood work for signs of infestation -this is a Capricorn Beetles hole!1.5cms across
In an old stone house thats covered in stucco its tricky to see what deteriation may have occured until you take the stucco off.In our house we have found holes as big as 1metre across filled with earth.Some internal beams were simply wooden branches which in time have rotted or been eaten by insects.Metal joists have been attacked by water and needed replacing and earthquakes over 100's of years have taken their toll on floor tiles.
upstairs floor with slightly damaged metal strap- tiles set into clay
One thing you should not do is to install damp proof course or any dpm into an old stone house or you will be causing yourself future problems.If you concentrate on removing any cement and also cleaning block drains and clearing earth that's piled up in front of walls outside you may well need to let the house 'dry out for a couple of years' but from then on you should have no more damp problems without spending huge amounts of money.
Cheese Shop in Lettomanoppello
In Lettomanoppello, Abruzzo there is a wonderful cheese shop where the cheese is made on the premises.The milk comes from sheep and goats kept on the green slopes of the Maiella mountains.
I love the Pecorino 'morbido' which is just 6 euro for a whole cheese.I cant think its possible to buy such a wonderful hand-made cheese in the UK for this amount.
I discovered a Belgian couple in the shop one day who were buying 300 euros worth of large Pecorino cheeses to take home for friends!Quite a good day for the little cheese shop.
Shop opened daily (not Monday) inc Sunday morning until 12 noon.Follow Passo Lanciano road and the shop is on the bend.
Lettomanoppello Cheese Shop
Percorino (fresh)
This dish was first made for us by an English couple who run 'villasfor2' and it is made by combining riccotta (in this case sheep's milk) with fresh strawberries and lemon juice then sprinkling with sugar
I love the Pecorino 'morbido' which is just 6 euro for a whole cheese.I cant think its possible to buy such a wonderful hand-made cheese in the UK for this amount.
I discovered a Belgian couple in the shop one day who were buying 300 euros worth of large Pecorino cheeses to take home for friends!Quite a good day for the little cheese shop.
Shop opened daily (not Monday) inc Sunday morning until 12 noon.Follow Passo Lanciano road and the shop is on the bend.
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Rome
There really is no city like it.If you have just one day or one month in Rome you'll never be able to explore all of its treasures!
For me The Pantheon is up there in the top 5 sights to see.I'd not relised that the painter Raphael has his tomb there and its easy to miss with the crowds pressing in.
What I love about th Pantheon is that it makes it possible to understand what the buildings on the forum must have looked like before their marble was 'looted' by the various Popes to enhance the Vatican!The colours of the different marbles mut have presented a truly amazing sight when you entered a building.
If you are inside the Pantheon when snow is falling through the circular opening the effect is said to be very moving .we missed snow by 10 days and it was clear and sunny when we visted.
lunch!cones of artichoke fritters
fritters of every kind and beer-perfect
outside the Pantheon with Guides
Che Bello!
For me The Pantheon is up there in the top 5 sights to see.I'd not relised that the painter Raphael has his tomb there and its easy to miss with the crowds pressing in.
What I love about th Pantheon is that it makes it possible to understand what the buildings on the forum must have looked like before their marble was 'looted' by the various Popes to enhance the Vatican!The colours of the different marbles mut have presented a truly amazing sight when you entered a building.
If you are inside the Pantheon when snow is falling through the circular opening the effect is said to be very moving .we missed snow by 10 days and it was clear and sunny when we visted.
Tivoli
Dont get lost in Tivoli when you go to Harian's Villa.Once you come off the autostrada you drive along a grotty drag with supermarkets, garages and shops and hundres of advertising boards.You'll need to keep your eyes open if you dont want to miss the smaller brown and white sighs for Hadrian's Villa.Look out for a right turn down a busy and narrow pot-holed road.As usual you'll find mad Italian drivers turning without indicating and overtaking!Just keep on until another T junction and a right then you'll be there.Fortunately the villa is just outside of Tivoli which is a real dump.
Talking of dumps Rome City Council has had an incredible idea to open a giant landfill in a quarry just beside the villa complex! The smell in July and August should be unbearable.Join the campaign to oppose this dump. Actor and prince Urbano Barberini leads fight against emergency dump as capital fails to recycle 80% of its waste
Recycle or dump at Hadrian's Villa?? Rome City Council Must decide only recycling 20% is a national disgrace
Talking of dumps Rome City Council has had an incredible idea to open a giant landfill in a quarry just beside the villa complex! The smell in July and August should be unbearable.Join the campaign to oppose this dump. Actor and prince Urbano Barberini leads fight against emergency dump as capital fails to recycle 80% of its waste
Recycle or dump at Hadrian's Villa?? Rome City Council Must decide only recycling 20% is a national disgrace
Rome
Fantastic Rome break - we've been almost everywhere and even after my third trip I found places in The Forum that I'd not seen before ,like The House of the Vestal Virgins.
My musr see in Rome is in The National Museum near Termini Station( closed on a Monday)-this room of fresco wall paintings taken from Livia's Villa and depicting scenes of a wonderful garden with birds and plants.
My musr see in Rome is in The National Museum near Termini Station( closed on a Monday)-this room of fresco wall paintings taken from Livia's Villa and depicting scenes of a wonderful garden with birds and plants.
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