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2) Click here for another map of our area.
VIRTUAL RELOCATION.COM - lots of help in making a move to Italy!
The home we've owned since 1978, now for sale, is in a small Medieval village (San Mamiliano) perched on a mountain side 2,300 feet up in the hunter-green hills and Green Heart of Italy, Umbria.
Not quite what our home looks like but 100% what it FEELS like!
"La Cascata delle Marmore" - is a magnificent waterfall and lays on the way to Terni (20 mins. from our village). You pass along the Valnerina Road and a magnificent waterfall. Your car will get wet you drive by so closely. There are pools of crystal clear water to (nude) bath in, Roman tunnels and a balcony just below the main fall - you'll be SOAKED! - and much more above and below. Plus, the Picture-Postcard Scenic lake Piedi Luco from which these waters emanate. Castles, picnics, boating, camping.....!
Frankly, DON'T buy our home! It's a dream few human souls can bare to enjoy. If you've ever dreamed of a fairy tale wonderland........ we've lived it for years.
3 rooms are still in need of work but they will allow you to freely create. A project for those rooms has already been accepted by the "commune" (community of Ferentillo) but most of that work has been completed.
We had a grand piano, a chandelier etc., but the aesthetic of the rooms is not limited to the design we had.
5 years ago we installed the most modern style kitchen for $10,000. Ideal for the habits of Americans and others who need modern conveniences. There is a large refrigerator (not a part of the kitchen purchase, this was bought about 10 years ago), dish washer, double counter, plenty of storage space and the beautiful view of the mountains and valley below.
In fact, from every room there is a magnificent view of the huge, wide valley below. A breathtaking spectacle that I guarantee will thrill you. The master bathroom shower has glass walls so even while showering the often winter white-capped mountains will keep you company.
There are 4 castles and at least 7 other villages visible and the ideal central Italian weather gives a constant display of aerial beauty.
The large terrace once had a swimming pool on it but today there is a table and large swing. I had put up the new small sized satellite dish and we received English language TV and radio channels from around Europe as well as programs in German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian... even Arabic and Turkish and more. There is standard broadcast TV antenna reception available from the roof mounted antenna (which remains and has outlets in many rooms).
We've had countless afternoon naps, evening dinners and just "sight-seeing" on the terrace with up to 15 friends at a time. As you may know, life, wine, food, air, conversation and the state of just being are completely different from American life.
"In Europe you live, in America you exist", a sad but true aphorism. Each day, each evening in our home, or just in Europe, always an experience unto itself.
A "Romeo and Juliet" balcony is perched as if on the edge of the world and a ground level porch still commands the same view. Therefore, we have a terrace at one end three stories up, a terrace in the middle two stories up and a porch at ground level on the opposite end.
There is some land just below town with about 50 olive trees and some woodland on it included with the house. This is visible from the house and you can get there via a path.
A dirt road can bring a small car right up to a new, large door built into one of the unfinished rooms and it is even wide enough to allow a Mercedes entry (though a sharp turn in the road makes such a large car too awkward to reach unless they ever widen the road enough for one and there have been studies to do just this.
With its external door this room could be a garage or even the main entrance to the house.
Today the house has 3 internal (inside the village) doors and you walk up a paved path to get there. (Don't worry, its not steep.)
The solid stone walls of the house are nearly 3 feet thick and about 1,000 years old.
There is electricity, community sewage/water/garbage, telephone and we're just 10 minutes from many stores and towns in the valley or 20 minutes from Terni (120,000 pop.) or 30 minutes from Spoleto (where the world famous FESTIVAL OF TWO WORLDS is held every year in summer; this festival has served to increase the property value all around but later I'll speak of the recent extreme devaluation of real estate in Italy and the increase in the value of the dollar, both items meaning Bargains for home seekers). Just 1.5 hrs. south via train or car is Rome and 2.5 hrs. north is Florence. As we're right in between the Adriatic and the Mediterranean its only about 2.5 hrs. to either coast. We get a perfect blend of all 4 seasons and its never too hot in summer. The restaurants, unparalleled scenic beauty of the region and architecture means that every walk and every trip for groceries is an unforgettable experience. At least, it always was for us.
The house is sort of in the shape of the letter "Z" and variously on 1-2 or 3 floors. The village, San Mamiliano, isn't on most maps and at its biggest stage there were only 250 people there. Today, about 45 and a few English, the American head of "The Associated Press" in Rome (he, his Portuguese wife and children own the house next door to ours which they use for the weekends) and even one German foreigner have bought in but most inhabitants remain the original native Italians. The salt of the earth, our great and wonderful friends. Each with a wonderfully friendly personality and rich lives.
Through an English neighbor in town the house is available to be seen at any time; she has the key and will tour you around inside.
A few years ago my wife was looking through Italian magazines and concluded it must be worth US$500,000. I said just US$350,000 and that was when it was full of new furniture. Today real estate values have plummeted in Italy, as in many parts of the world, and we are offering it at just US$200,000, and that's negotiable as we badly want to buy a new home here in Concord, California.
Approx. US$57 per square foot of internal living quarters - and the land thrown in.
If you find yourself intrigued please see the images. A map to the village is also included.
I also have a cute but tiny 3 story home for sale, also in San Mamiliano and just a 60 second walk from the house above.
There is some furniture included.
It needs a great deal of work but has a skylight, half the roof is a terrace, fabulous views looking into two valleys (yes, the valley facing my other place and a second valley facing Terni!) but it is small. Each floor is really a room. It'll go cheap. Maybe $35,000. You can drive right up in front of it, amazingly (as to do such in these kind's of villages is usually impossible). Parking is just 15 feet away. Its got perhaps the most ideal position in town as it's opposite the church at the very top of the village, has wonderful views and the car door can actually open and touch the front door of the house. It has community: water, electricity and sewage; a fireplace and plenty of windows! Photos available as I find them in the few albums we have here.
As to the rental apartment: It is just outside our village of San Mamiliano and is the lower part of an old farm. It has just been completely remodeled and also has magnificent views of another valley. Though just 2 bedrooms it will sleep 6 and comes fully furnished including pots, pans, plates etc. There is a fireplace and parking. Gorgeous! I have color photos, maps etc. No phone but electricity is paid. (A public phone is a 3 minute walk.) This apt. is available all year round and was heated in 1994.
Rents for US$750/weekly starting and ending on Saturdays.
I hope I've wetted your appetite to make a trip to Europe and rent or buy something.
One way or the other, have a great vacation there when you can.
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