We bought a house in the mountains of Italy and are now restoring it ourselves. The farmhouse stands on the ruins of a 13th-century convent, surrounded by a non-commercial working vineyard, in the shadow of a 1,800m high mountain.
We plan to enlarge and upgrade the vineyard, restore the farmhouse, preserve the Convent, become completely self-sufficient, achieve spiritual enlightenment, and get married here. (maybe not all in that order).
Thanks again for following along and hope to have you around soon.
So you bought a convent and you don't understand that Jesus was God and of course He did not have a wife. Maybe it would be a good idea to read a bible but Catholic one. Then you will understand what you have bought and with what great respect you need to treat a place like a convent.
regular viewer of "Italian Property" and you have a gem. But one mans trash is another mans treasure especially when its time for design. cringed when I saw some items leaving. Also there are so many nice authentic Architectural features worth enhancing hope the sledge hammer escapes them. Congratulation and sub'd to see you progress.
Your channel seems mildly interesting but it is competeing with others that are very similar. The best channels convey a clarity and respect for the audience. Your excuse that you "were so hungry" while chewing, choking and making clattering noises and moving around so much that the mic could barely pick up your words is not respectful of yourselves, your project or us. Not subscribing now but will check back next month to see how you are doing. Good luck, really, not trying to be mean.
Read your comment before I saw that part but yup I would agree! It is a neat project and they are starting out. I am enjoying it so far and simply fast forwarded to get past that section.
O what a task you’ve chewed your way into….! It’s lovely and a wonderful place to live out your lives together. Lots of people will offer you building and renovation advice. Feel your way along through it all, pick out the good stuff, and spit out the rest. I will tell you something you may not be prepared for. You will both become different people. All that is different now in your world, can’t help but shape you. And you MUST be comfortable with this - or it will break you. My husband and I sold everything we owned and moved from NYC to rural northwestern ireland - 9 years ago. We bought a derelict stone schoolhouse house online without ever seeing it - got off the plane, and camped out in a building site until it was complete. I was 60. Husband was 64. I arrived with a wardrobe of “business casual” - cashmere jackets and pencil skirts. Now? Leggings for scrambling over wire fences, and big rubber wellies to wade across the bog - the landscape shapes us, and the life must change beyond recognition. Enjoy the great exciting days, and be patient with each other when you are broken under the seemingly unending work. Life is an adventure, meant to be lived. You are starting out on something WONDERFUL. Love ALL your moments.
I appreciate your video. My son has purchased a home outside of Asti. We had the same problem with the geometra and a similar price. Six months after purchasing the old farm house we decided to completely change our approach to the project at hand. Right now I am renovating the bathroom (permanent work) and the kitchen (temporary). This way we can stay in the building while we complete the big task of structural work, adding two bathrooms and eventually the new roof. I am a general contractor in California so my biggest problems here is communicating with the local contractors. The change we made was a trade, we will be completing the same work we decided to do in the beginning design. But we will do it piece by piece, and probably with a different geometra. In other You Tube videos I have seen others that have had the same problems with price gouging. Good for you that you are willing to get your hands dirty. I hope you are able to create a beautiful home, it looks like a lovely location.
Sono considerati immobili di interesse storico ed artistico tutti quegli edifici che sono sottoposti a vincolo monumentale con decreto del ministro dei beni culturali ed ambientali, così come prescritto dal Decreto Legislativo n° 490/1999.2 dic 2022
Did you know that in Italy, if you purchase a building of historical interest such as a former convent or other, you must have authorization from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and the Environment to renovate it? You must also ask your local municipality what the intended use of the building is. Are you sure that they will give you habitability, that is, the possibility of living in it? It is always better to make these types of purchase contracts with an expert such as a lawyer or a trusted notary so as not to have the renovation work carried out blocked.
Time is money. having it done professionally and up to code especially in Italy is worth your dollars or euros. Italian craftsmanship is second to none. Plus you won't have to deal with all the BS that comes into play. It will also be beneficial to your relationship.
Italian craftmanship can also be quite 3rd rate, actually not being Italian specific: There are plenty of shady wonky craftsman around the world and one has to be very careful with it. Everything needs to be on paper, including fixing errors. It happened plenty of times that people payed tonnes just to end up with stuff that needs to be redone.
Hi to both of you. That´s a big project you started there, much respect! Please buy some protective gear (ABS helmet, safety shoes, safety gloves and eye-protection - don´t forget a first aid kit), it is not too expensive and it will help you finish the project in this lifetime. Other than that, a scaffolding would definitely be a great help. Regarding the masonry, you are probably dealing with a dried out binding material between the stones. Any thoughts on how to treat it from the outside and the inside?
We do have some protective gear, but not the full shabang just yet. Thank you for the care! :) Binding material is mostly in good shape actually. The Engineer didn't seem to be bothered by it (aside the massive cracks in the wall!).
Just be careful about being so fixated on moving the fireplace that you end up spending a lot of money there and leaving yourselves in a difficult position further down the road. I would be tempted to leave it in situ (it looks great in the library!) and if your budget stretches in the future commission something or source at a reclamation yard. The expensive part in any case will be the chimney and making right the roof and so on as opposed to the surround. The house is a real gem. You didn't mention electrical, is that included in the minimum quote from the geometra? Good luck!
I do agree about leaving the gorgeous, large fireplace where it is. It will likely be a lot of work and money to move. That money would be better spent on critical infrastructure such as the roof, plumbing, electrical. Your property is absolutely stunning!
yes it sounds crazy in terms of costs and history to remove a fireplace. Normally one closes it down or restores it in Europe. But yes intreresting to watch how such renovations go in practise.
Electricity is actually included in the quote, but it was surprisingly cheap at around 5k. The fireplace - some good points you are making. We should have some cost estimate for the chimney soon. That should help us make a decision. Thank you for the advice and support :)
Definitely leave the fireplace where it is- it will look beautiful in a library setting and I agree with another viewer, if you want something similar for elsewhere then reclamation yards are your best bet. They’re a joy to look around anyway ☺️
I know you're curious, but this isn't something we can simply say. It's a small community out here, and not everyone are ok with numbers flying around (they might be, but we gotta ask first).
I have been doing histoic restoration my entire life.. I always ask my ckients to prepare a written plan and what they think their timeline will be/ The plan should state what happens first. Putting together a buget come next. Tearing stuff down and doing demo work should only happen when you know how you're going to put it back and it's cost. You're going to have setbacks to your project. but planning goes a long way to a good project. Have fun and keep smiling.
Yup, I was a little surprised to see you chopping up the ceiling boards into such short lengths. I understand that it was the easiest way to remove them, but the wood seemed to be salvageable and, even if not re-used as floorboards, could perhaps have been used for something like making shelving in your library. It's not a criticism, I don't know the master plan, but taking a little more time on their removal and cleaning up could have saved you a bit of money later on in the project. I try to think of every stone, bit of wood, window frame etc as an asset and whether it might be able to be re-used or repurposed before I decide on how they are to be removed.
We do have a plan, really. The problem is it keeps changing! But our vision is clear and we are here to put the work. We have some great people supporting it all, so whatever the challenge, we're gonna sort it out.
I recommend you make an introduction video to make it clear what your project is, how much you pay etc. Watch Martijn Doolaard's first videos...and good luck with your dream
they should make whatever video's they want. some projects need more time to develop into something that can be easily shared in a video. as viewers we just have to let it unfold and sit back and enjoy. i don't think @storiesfromthecascina for example have ever really shared those things yet i enjoy watching them just as much as @martijndoolaard. the world is more fun if everybody does things their own way. imagine how boring it would be if every youtube renovation channel would be little martijn clones.
To renovate a compound of this size will take more than a decade on your own. Please try to get some skilled helpers if or when budget permits.. Be careful, I wouldn't put too much trust in the integrity of some of those walls..
