The Search for an Italian Casa is OVER!

When I last left off I had shown you a beautiful new construction that we absolutely loved, but was too far away.  Even now, thinking back to the land owners, I really hope they’ve found renters, because they were so sweet and very accommodating.  That place is an absolute dream!

But speaking of dreams, this next house was something out of a fairy tale and located in a little town called Budoia, which is about 10 minutes from the air base. 

I know from the picture is doesn’t look like much, but those balconies were SOLID and so gorgeous up close.  And those stone walls.  It was like walking into a storybook, only it has running water, electricity, and DSL connections.

 

On the first floor, however, things were a little less magical.  There was no real living space here.  To give you an idea, I was standing in the far corner of the room when I took this picture and this is all I could manage to get in the shot. You see the kitchen in the background as well.  That’s all of it.  One wall which consists most of a stove and a sink.  There was 3 feet max of counter space.  We could work with that of course, but the lack of living space downstairs was kind of a killer.

The balcony off of the master bedroom on the second floor, nearly made me forget the problems wee had going on downstairs.  Not to mention the bathroom was ENORMOUS.  Large enough to fit our washer and dryer if we wanted.  It had 2 separate pedistal sinks (because there is no such thing as a 6 foot double vanity around these parts), a shower, and a separate tub.  Oh and there was a towel warmer too.  Yum.

We determined the living space in this house would have to be on the 3rd floor.  Which was almost alright by me because look at those ceilings!  Centuries old wood beams that could charm the pants off the surliest of beasts.  Not to mention, the second balcony was up here.  But then we figured, that it’d be kind of weird to welcome guests to our home and then, after dinner, lead them to the 3 floor like prisoners in an old castle.  No escape.  I still dream about those stone walls and centuries old wood.  If only there was a way to expand the first floor by 10 feet in one direction.  Then, we’d be in business.

We toured this über modern number in a town called Polcenigo.

From the outside it doesn’t look much different form the last house.  Double balconies off the 2nd and 3rd floors, square and flat, but then there’s that weird white almost-circular handrail that tells you there’s  more than meets the eye here.  And boy is there!

An American from Alabama purchased this house a few years back and complete modernized and renovated it from the ground up.

The crazy handrails from the outside were carried through to the inside.  All the way to the third floor.  And as you can see the floors and ceilings were all concrete.  Now let’s talk about the ECHO.  We would have to invest a small fortune in rugs to keep the echo down in that place.  Plus, let’s be honest, John and I are not cool enough to love modern architecture.  And from what the real estate agent was telling us, the owner hired a big name (though she didn’t know the name) architect for the renovations.  I do enjoy modern architecture, but I don’t want to live in modern architecture.  That place just felt cold, and wrong, and more of an 80s style “modern.”  And don’t ask me what those holes in the ceiling are for, because I have no clue.  They were on both the first and second floors, and had no pattern to them.

I did really like the 3rd floor, however.  I’m sure it had nothing to do with the wood floors and white washed beams that were original to the old farm house. 

There were some really nice amenities to the house that had us scratching our heads wondering if we could make this work.  For one, all of the floors were heated which is the most energy efficient ways to heat your house in the winter time here.  Secondly, each of the bedrooms had it’s own thermostat. So you could completely shut off heat or air to any room you’re not using.  Also the kitchen was nice and “American” with plenty of cabinet space and a dishwasher.  And lastly, there was a bubbly tub outside.  Yep, just like you’d see back home.  But in the end, we didn’t like the drive (tiny one-way roads with 2-way traffic) and we jut didn’t like the feel.

It was a long journey to finding our house.  We visited a house in Aviano that had so many rooms in the basement, the landlord couldn’t tell us what they were used for (we decided one would be a racquetball court and the other would be for ballroom dancing), another house in Roveredo in Piano in which we discovered plates of rat poison (at which point we promptly said our goodbyes to the man showing us the property), and a really nice house in Polcenigo with more scary, tiny roads (come visit and you’ll see what I’m talking about).  Finally, though, we hit the jackpot!

This is a screen shot from Google maps of the house we will be renting for the next 3 years.  I was way too enamored with the house to remember to take pictures while we were walking through it, so you will have to wait until we move in and get settled to get a tour.  We are so excited to have found this house and can’t wait to move in.  It’s taking a little longer than we like because the current tenant doesn’t move out for a few days still, and then the landlord has to come in and inspect it and paint.  In the end, it will be so worth the wait!  It has many of the things on our wish list of sorts.  I can’t wait to get in and get settled and take you on a tour of our Italian casa.