We went to Bar Mary where we get a cappuccino every morning. It was Wednesday and the weekly Wednesday market was in full swing. It was a perfect sized market with vegetables, fruits, dried and fresh fish, cured meats, cheeses, bread, and flowers. On the other side of the town was the market with other kinds of goods like clothing etc.

We headed out over the mountains again. Did I mention it has rained EVERY day? It was very foggy in the mountains this time, making the trip slower.

We arrived in Paciano right on time. We visited the house we couldn’t get into the other day. It was a pretty nice place. Luther said if we’d seen it first we would have been wowed. It had two floors that would be separate apartments. They both had nice gardens and parking. Luther thought it would be very expensive to heat them. We marked this off of our list.

We wandered around Paciano. We peeked into the wine bar. There were a number of folks in there. At the bottom of town we checked out the Alimentari (small grocery). It was very small but had most everything you’d need. There was a butcher shop in the back and fresh vegetables. Next door was the second bar. It was also nice.

We walked up the hill and looked into the Pizzeria which was closed. There was also an appliance dealer with things like toasters, irons, etc.

We drove over to Panicale so Luther could gauge the distance for his jog. It wasn’t too hilly.

We met up with our agent and the owner of the house. We took some movies and pictures. We realized the rooms of this house were much smaller than we remembered. It does have a lot of outside space. There is a big balcony with a planter just off the kitchen which is nice. You could put tables and chairs there. Did I mention this house has screens? This is nearly unheard of in Italy or Europe for that  matter. But they are really nice to have. We still liked the house but it is very small.

We went into Castiglione for lunch where we had eaten before. It is in the center of town but the food is pretty good. I had a pasta with the lake fish. Luther had a Trasemino specialty of beans with fish (right up his alley). We had an appointment with Bob the Builder next.

We met up at Café Alise and we followed him to a property that was in the flat farm fields. It was very beautiful but needed total renovation. Turns out it had been sold but I took a picture.

Then we drove WAY out in the middle of what I would call nowhere. It was down a long dirt road. The house was not bad. It had 4 bedrooms and pretty good living spaces. It had a fenced yard and was surrounded by woods. It was not to our liking.

Lastly we went to a house that was essentially a shell. It was waiting for a buyer and then it would be finished to their specifications. Again, not what we were looking for. We always learn a little with every viewing so this was time well spent and we appreciate Bob’s time.

Monday we resumed our hunt after a relaxing break on Sunday. We drove back up the Niccone valley, over the mountains and back down to Lake Trasamino where we had appointments with two real estate agents.

The first one took us to Piana, a small village not too far from Castiglione. The house was right in the village center which is what we like. It was funny though because it has 3 double doors that opened from the front … wait for it … right onto the road. You truly had to look right and left before you walked out!

It needed a lot of work but was livable and pretty good sized. It had a small garden area outside on the street and a private paved patio out the back mostly taken up with a shed. That would have to go should we buy it. We are not sure how much of a renovation we want to do.

Next up was far out into the agricultural countryside not far from a village. A beautiful situation but pretty isolated. It had nice gardens and gorgeous views. The rooms were nice and didn’t need renovation. Lots of storage and a decent kitchen. It was just a little too far out of a town for us so that is a no-go.

Last was a new build back in Paciano (remember that last house on the hill? Same town). It was probably a little closer than the front running house and not uphill from the village. The only problem was the keys didn’t work and we were unable to see it. Too bad. Good prospect. We decided to re-try to see it.

On Tuesday we met up again with Jim who we had seen our first day in Umbertide. He took us to two properties in the town medieval center, both just next to the apartment where we are staying. Both had nice Tiber river views.

The first one you entered into the house from the street and up a staircase straightaway. This emptied you into a living room area. You went through a doorway into a kitchen which would need total renovation but had great views. Jim suggested we knock down the non-load bearing wall between the two rooms to make a nice big open space. There was a flue for a pellet stove to keep the space toasty. All the floors in the place were terra cotta tiles. The ceilings had massive beams.

Continuing upward the stairs opened out into a large living room type place with a fireplace. There was a wall between it and a bedroom with bath. Jim again suggested we ADD a wall to close off the living room space and open that room to the bedroom to make a master suite. What a good idea! That would make a corridor to the next set of stairs.

Up these stairs was another bath with a door to the terrace (!) OK strange but Italian. The room next to the bath also had a door to the terrace so you didn’t actually need to go through the bath to get to it. That room could be an office or library. There was also a big bedroom on this floor with large sitting area. It could be a very nice guest suite.

Top floor – yes there are a LOT of floors! (actually you’d own nearly the whole house except for a shop on the street level) – was an attic space with sloping ceilings. It had really ugly paneling straight out of the 60s on the ceiling and some walls. It was a very big space with another bath. Potential in this attic space for sure but it doesn’t need to be finished right away. This one had potential.

The next house was just 2 doors down. It was a hoot. An old quite eccentric woman owned the place and let us see it. It was a real rats nest. Very hard to envision it looking nice. There was a big room with kitchen, another room with bedroom and a storeroom. The strangest thing was you had to open a trap door (!) and go down a steep narrow ladder with barely room for your feet. It was pretty scary but we got down to the bottom, which was the way to the garden. Yes, that was the big selling point for this house. It had a pretty big garden, which was a vegetable garden. Really nice. In the bottom story of the house next to the garden were a series of cantine or large vaulted rooms. They went far back into the earth with arches inside arches. It was full of junk and Jim said they could be made into a spectacular space but I was having trouble seeing it. Ultimately we don’t think this one is on our list.

He took us up the valley to San Leo Bastia, a small village with a bar and restaurant and small grocery. The house was just lovely. It is owned by a British couple who used it for a summer home. It is a cottagey place made of pretty stone. Getting to it was pretty harrowing. Jim has a big Land Rover four-wheel drive which he expertly uses. It climbed right up but I can’t image a regular car going up there. The house had a really nice kitchen dining area opening to a nice living room with pellet stove. There was a shower room on this floor too.

Up the steps you entered a “snug”. It is a Briticism and is totally descriptive. It had a sofa and a wood burning stove and it was just… snug! There were two bedrooms and a bath on this floor too.

Outside was spectacular. The house was halfway up the hill overlooking a valley and onto the hills opposite. There was a gorgeous covered dining area with lots of inside and outside space. I am sure it would be lovely to sit out there in the summer.

We really liked this last property but the village, while cute, was pretty small with very little in it. I think this one is also not on the list.

Lastly Jim had contacted a colleague in Citta de Castella. This town is about 2 times the size of Umbertide and maybe 30 miles north. It is a really pretty completely walled city. The apartment we saw was in a beautiful palazzo with a beautiful staircase with arched ceilings. The apartment has one bedroom, one bath, kitchen, formal dining area and nice kitchen. The surprise was a spiral staircase up to the terrace, which was very nice and just level with all the smoking chimneys. I guess this wouldn’t be a problem in the summer ! Off to the side was a little, tiny door you had to climb up to and crouch to get through. Once inside was a very large attic space. Plenty of room for a bedroom or two and a bath. You would have to lower the floor to make it level with the terrace and you’d have to add a staircase from downstairs to make it easier to access. We really don’t want to undertake this kind of project.

All in all a pretty productive day. We have a new property on our list! The first house in the medieval quarter of Umbertide. Now we have two potential houses, both TOTALLY different in every way but both have their pluses (and minuses).  These houses would be the one in Umbertide that we saw today that needs mostly cosmetic work. And the brand new house we saw in Paciano on day 3.

There are many things to take into account on these houses not least important is the completely different feel of the two locations.

Umbertide is more of a “real” Italian medium sized town, slightly gritty, dating from the 6^th century BC. It became a Roman city in the 3^rd century and later, in 1189 it was first documented as under the rule of Perugia. It has a compact Centro Storico with restaurants, piazzi, bars and tiny streets. It is not terribly picturesque outside of this area but it has all the things you’d need. Good stores, hospital etc. Train connections are not the best but existent. You could train to Perugia and then switch.

Paciano is a tiny hill town, completely restored and it feels kinda like Disneyland. It is almost too perfect and pretty. The location of the house is up high and airy and very tranquil but walkable to the village. There are a bar, 2 restaurants, a pharmacy, a wine bar and a small grocery in town which is good. But it is also only 15 minutes to Castiglione with all the big stores etc. Better train connections in town but the high-speed line is in Chusi only 15 minutes away.

We have new friends in both locations whom we would love to live near. This also makes it so hard to decide!!

We will see a few more tomorrow and re-visit the Umbertide house on Thursday but time is growing short and we need to make that decision soon.

More to come…

Well it’s been three days of whirlwind activity! We arrived in Umbertide (pronounced Um-BERT-teh-day we found out) at 11:30AM on Thursday January 16th. It was slightly overcast but not too cold. Umbertide is a town of about 15,000 souls with a nice compact centro storico (historic center).

Our phone didn’t have enough charge to we resorted to a public pay phone (they still have them!) and called Jim, our contact. He had helped us find our apartment and was going to show us properties. We met up in front of the train station and went to our apartment to off-load our luggage. It is a lovely little apartment on the top floor with a nice view of the Tiber river. The only issues are no internet connectivity or TV.

We headed down the street to Bar Mary which is Jim’s “office”. We had beers. Jim seems to know everyone! He has lived here 30 years and is thoroughly assimilated.

We went to lunch at Il Capponi on a small piazza. We all had pasta and split a jug of the house red. Very nice. After that we went out to see some places.

First we went up the Tiber river into the countryside. The house was in a small town. It comprised a main house and a guesthouse both facing what would be a beautiful courtyard garden in the summer. Jim said it was negotiable in price. The elderly owners have returned to South Africa. Picture of main house below.

We next saw 2 apartments in Umbertide centro. They were both too small for us but quite reasonable in price – one was 120,000 Euro and the other 115,000. Both were also negotiable.
We discussed our likes and dislikes and parted ways with Jim until next Tuesday at which time he will have searched out other properties for us to see.

The next day we drove up the Niccone river valley into and ultimately over the mountains. Coming down the other side the view of Lago Trasemino (largest lake in Italy except for Garda – picture below) was spectacular. It was a gray day. Our appointment was with Mr. & Mrs. Nelson who owned the home we were seeing.

It was a lovely home and they are a lovely oldher couple. They plan to return to England as their health is failing. There was a nice garden overlooking olive trees. The house had two floors separate from each other. Both had 2-ish bedrooms and a bath. The downstairs is the older part with pretty arches. The town of Puccinelli where the house stands is small and you cannot walk to anything like a bar or restaurant which is the downside.

The following day we met two ladies from Bella Umbria agency. They took us to see 3 places. The first in a town, Tavernelle but too far to walk to anything and we didn’t care for it. Then a couple of new build apartments down the hillside beneath the hill town of Panicale. They had obviously stood empty for a long time. They had garages downstairs. They were nice but not notable.

The last house was one we had both looked forward eagerly to seeing. The pictures on the website were great. The house did not disappoint. It was stunning. The view was nothing less than spectacular and it was just above, and within walking distance of Paciano – another hill town. The builder came and met up with us. None of them (including the 2 real estate agents) spoke much English which made it a bit difficult. The apartment was on the top floor of 3 and was brand new.

There are two bedrooms plus a small office or large changing room or even a single bedroom with 2 very nicely done baths. There is an open plan living room with kitchen and dining space. It was the highest rating for energy and had a fireplace in the living room and one in the main bedroom as well as a pellet stove all as additional heating to the gas. The floors were tiled in the living area and wood in the bedrooms. It was completely wired for internet and TV. We drove down to Paciano to park and explore. The town is beautifully restored. There are a couple of restaurants, bar, grocery and wine bar.

We came away entranced with the third house but will wait to see all the others on our lists before we make our decision. We still like the first house with the courtyard and the house with two apartments in Puccianelli. But this last one is more spectacular. Above is the view. Lago Trasimeno is in the distance.
More to come…