Wednesday 2 June 2010

Renovating a country house

Work is going to begin on our beautiful old school, country house in a few weeks! it is very exciting. Our friend, an engineer is working on the plan at the moment. The house is very big and needs a lot of work done but we are starting with the most important thing - replacing the entire roof. I am no roof expert but I think they are going to try and keep all of the old roof tiles as I am no fan of the fake looking ones you see in the countryside. The job should take about 1 month, so it'll be only half done when I leave for Scotland.

These are some photos of the house. I'll explain the set up of the house when I take some more photos as it is one big house divided into 2 houses, one half in an ok condition, the other half has dirt floors still. We are going to do the entire roof as a little water enters when it rains, and we run the risk of damage being caused. Once the roof is up bel fidanzato and I will see if we can do some inside work ourselves - maybe chipping away at some interior walls or something. We don't have all the money needed to renovate the entire house - it'll be a work in progress for many years...but hopefully next year we may be able to restore the basic rooms we need to live there. We are also keeping our fingers crossed that we can leave the exterior as it is. It may look run-down to you but that's one of the things I love about the house - the old original stones which are visible on the walls!   


Below: The stairs you see lead up to the first floor which may become an entrance...or maybe not. Below the stairs is the ground floor which you will find the cantina, a big room where the goats currently live (not my goats, but I'll happily take over ownership of them if we can,) the outdoor courtyard, wood oven, and some other rooms which could be used for a garage or storage. 






This photo is  few years old, but you can see all of our land behind me and also you can see the bees which are kept on the land every year. I am not sure the exact measurements of the land but it's massive...lots of room for many donkeys to come and live with us!

9 comments:

Rosa said...

That's a beautiful old house. What we'd call a 'rustico in campagna'. My Dad was just telling me that they kept a goat under their house when he was a boy too. And all that land ... you'll become a 'vera contadina'!!

Anonymous said...

What fun lies ahead for you Leanne. Looking forward to more photos and info as the restoration starts.

LindyLouMac said...

Leanne it looks wonderful. I do think you would find the renovation we are doing interesting, not sure if you seen my photos on Flickr? I hope to do some before and after posts eventually.
How many square metres is your house? By coincidence our house was also registered as two separate dwellings and we have recently completed the process of changing it to one.
Good Luck with the renovation I hope you enjoy the process as much as we have done.

Sarah Elizabeth said...

Wow, what a challenge! I look forward to sharing our house renovation stories!

Leanne was in Italy now in Australia said...

Hi Scintilla,
I will indeed become a real farmer soon!

Hi Cathy,
A lot of fun (mixed with being poor) is ahead.

Hi LindyLouMac,
So yours is a 2 in one house too! Ours I think is about 110m2 over 3 floors.

Hi Sarah Elizabeth,
It sure will be a challenge!

Killara girl said...

omg Leanne, this is amazing...what an incredible house...and the land to go with it. can't wait to watch it transform.

Jewel said...

Sounds like a candidate for an episode of Grand Designs Abroad. Completely jealous. Hope all goes well!

Lisa Chiodo said...

Hi Leanne, well that's exciting to see the start on the roof tiles. Big job but without it you can't move on.

When we did our house in Piedmont we left large sections of the original exposed rock both on the interior and exterior. The new house in Liguria is also rock and they don't render it there which looks great.

For some reason although I subscribed I don't get posts?? Will try again.

We are finishing our house in Australia to head to Italy (by train)in late May early June. Coming via Vietnam, China, Mongolia, and Russia so will need a drink by the time we get to Italia!

Look forward to seeing the house transform and can't wait to see what you do with it!
ciao for now
Lisa

Unknown said...

Looks like an amazing property. We bought a similar looking property in rural Bedfordshire, it needed lots of work but I think it's been worth it. Bedford electricians were our god send as it turned out!