Many folks come to Italy to buy a character stone house. That house may actually be unlivable and in the need of a lot of work. A little to a lot of money is needed to complete their dream. But eventually, they have a lovely home to move into or to use for vacation.

That is the simple truth. The more complicated truth would be that their home is going to cost a lot more than they budgeted and the work will either continue for more years than they hoped, or the work stops indefinitely. I’m not trying to be negative or ugly here, but we’ve seen it sadly happen to others. So, if owning a character home is important to you, make sure you have deep pockets or you have some good DIY skills.

We came to Italy, with downsizing in mind, to purchase a house we could live in immediately… No big renovations or huge budget needed. And we got that with our home here in Roccaspinalveti. It may appear that we didn’t downsize from our home in Virginia, but we actually ended up with two separate apartments. Ok, that really isn’t good rationale. I still have to clean both floors! John and I live upstairs and the lower apartment will be for family, friends and guests. I’ll get to the ‘guest’ part in a minute.

A bit of our apartment needs some updating as it was built back in the ’70s. We’ve updated our kitchen with some new appliances, and plan to open a wall between the working and eating areas of our kitchen. We also have two small bedrooms which we’ve decided to make into one large master suite. This leaves us without space for family to visit, and that is unacceptable. 😉 But with the lower apartment, we have ready-made space for our family and friends to be comfortable and private.

Scrubbing, painting, some new furniture are all happening downstairs now. But the big renovation is the bathroom. John, being the handy man he is, is ripping, or rather, sledge- hammering the old tub out as you see below. The shower and bidet have been removed. Anything blue that isn’t tile is also being removed. Eventually there will be white fixtures, a large glass walk in shower and more tiling, mostly white.

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Since John is the mastermind behind our renovations here, I wanted to get his take on the work here so far. And I quote John…”As I have come to Italy from the US, I bring a background in architectural design and construction. What I continue to discover, while renovating here, is that, of course, building practices in Italy differ greatly from much of those in the US. But, beyond this, consistent methods are not often to be found. So if you renovate or even attempt to restore, which are two separate approaches, be prepared for surprises.”

When we purchased our home, it came totally furnished. Some pieces we kept, and those that didn’t really work with our furniture or we didn’t need, were either sold or donated. Below are some pieces we kept that John has updated the look for the guest apartment. Told you he is handy….

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And not to forget John’s outside work, here are before and after shots out front, showing the completed fencing project. I’m tasked with painting the stucco, which I hope to attack next week. We continue to plant shrubs and flowers, with some additional courtyard work scheduled.

We truly believe that our lovely part of Abruzzo, Roccaspinalveti, is undersold and underestimated for its ‘Wow’ factor. Since we are already fixing up the guest apartment for family, why not also offer it for short holiday rental through Airbnb. I met with two local friends, that are actively promoting tourism here in Rocca and we discussed ideas to make this happen. John and I then went to our local accountant to see what we needed to do to proceed as a holiday rental. To stay in a certain tax bracket, we will be renting for less than 30 days at a time. Ideally, we are looking at week-long or weekend rentals. There aren’t, presently, many rooms available for holiday rental here in town, so we are hoping that our enthusiasm will lead others to open their homes in a similar way.

So as John works away on updating the apartment, I am contacting local artisans in the hope they will be interested in conducting tours of their establishments and also to offer workshops.  Not only does this support our local businesses, but it gives our guests the opportunity to experience Abruzzo here in the Frentani Mountains of Roccaspinalveti. There will be events, tours, tastings, hands-on workshops and classes, with translators available for those not quite ready to dive into an all Italian experience. 😉 You will find this information, as I continue to work on the website for Casa Serre Holiday Rental. 😉

So with all this work, which can be really fun…but still kind of like work…. I make certain to add some time away from the house project. This past Sunday, we went on a lovely 8.5 km loop around Monte Pallano ( know for its megalithic walls) , an awe-inspiring hike for both its archaeological history and richness of its diverse flora. And the 360° view isn’t too shabby either. The launch town was Tornareccio, “Le Città del Miele” -the capital of honey in Abruzzo, only 1/2 hour drive from our home. The hike, and following tour of the  award-winning honey producer Adi Apicultura, is led by our guides from ‘Itinerari d’Abruzzo Associazione’. Both our guides are experts in botany and history, thus making our hike truly a great experience. But to top it off, all the hikers in our group on Sunday were just outright fantastic people. John was relaxed and smiling…we both needed that.

It’s definitely great weather for hiking so hope to post a few more that we have the chance to do this spring. Also, we’re heading to Puglia region in a few weeks for a mini vacation. And always, I’ll continue to share all that we love and cherish here. Ciao for now…..