Category DIY

Enjoying Changes – Our Move

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Moving… not an easy process as many of you have experienced. We do it for many reasons and I have to say that we are a bit tired and overwhelmed, but so very happy. As I have been on hiatus from this blog with the move to Tufillo and recent vacation, I am now focused and ready to share more about life for us here in Abruzzo and our new home.

I am still amazed that we’ve taken to a townhouse in the center of a small village. Both John and I have lived most of our adult lives out in the countryside and certainly, whether in the US or here in Abruzzo, we’ve lived the past 20 years with few or no neighbors. So, to make this move to an urban setting (yes, even if it’s in a stunning medieval village) and not to feel closed-in, just tells me that this is what was meant to be for us at this time in our lives. You can catch up on our preparation to our new place and its location from two of my most recent postings; A Change of Place and A Gift…finding Tufillo…and Giacomo

We’re in love with our house, with all its twist and turns from one level to the next, and as we slowly complete the interior and add our own touches, it is being transformed into our cherished home. We’re using the lower-level kitchenette as our working kitchen as John assembles the cabinets for the main kitchen and we await gas hookup. Once the main kitchen is completed, we will turn the lower one into our dining area. We’ve added a pellet stove in the living room to give us some heat on the main level and our plumber arrives soon to add our gas line, boiler and radiators.

Here are some comparisons from when we first saw the house back in November of 2021 and our progress up until today. Light fixtures still need to be installed, artwork to be hung, kitchen, master bath, etc. still in the works. But we so love our house (about 250-300 years old) with a very modern interior.


Living Room looking to front door. As there wasn’t any foyer or entry way, we added a bookcase to break the space, thus creating a place to hang up coats and kick off shoes.

The marble staircase is truly a work of art designed and installed by a local craftsman. Once having painted the stairwell walls and we’ve added light fixtures, we can hang artwork and a few of John’s guitars.

Our bedroom is so very peaceful, even after adding our plaid winter duvet. Most of the light fixtures have been purchased but John is busy with his kitchen cabinets right now.

An interesting yet very frustrating element that can occur when buying an old house here in Italy, is the determination of ownership of a cantina and/or a stalla (e.g. -storage room for wine and stall area for animal such as donkey.) These rooms were traded back and forth amongst families and neighbors throughout generations, and ownership could be by a handshake, word of mouth or who has the lock on the door. Storage space is at a premium in our downsized home and the need for additional storage and workshop space for John was important. We discovered two small cantinas under our house, and it took agreements, some exchange of money on our part, an architect involved as well as our notary. The outcome that everyone personally involved were handled fairly and the end result was satisfying ownership of the two cantinas beneath our kitchen and part of the actual structure were legally attached to our purchase.

During the move and adjusting to life here in Tufillo, we had a vacation planned well in advance, a cammino in the region of Puglia. We mentally needed the break as we had been going full tilt getting our house in Roccaspinalveti ready for sale as well as moving belongings to Tufillo. Also, during that time, John was actively involved in helping Giacomo (owner/contractor of our Tufillo house) with finishing the tile work and other projects there so we could move in. We were ready for some fun!

La Rotta Dei Due Mari

What a great week. 130 km on foot from the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea. We’d been training for this one on an off during the past 4 or 5 months, but as this one didn’t have a lot of elevation changes like the cammino in the mountains last year, we put in a lot of road time. On this cammino, we will travel many miles on secondary roads, so we made certain our feet could handle the hard surfaces as we carried all we would need for the week in our backpacks.

This cammino consisted of 6 tappas (stages/days) with the last two days being the longest (20 & 16 miles respectively). We would start in Polignano a Mare and complete the trek in Taranto. I planned our week toward the end of October as the weather in Puglia is dry and pleasant… normally… during this time. Well, we lucked out with dry weather, but it was a lot hotter than expected. It did make the longer days a challenge, but such a great experience!

Tappa 1

What an amazing 19+km/12+ miles! From Polignano a mare to Castellana Grotte. Ancient olive groves, fields of salad and many other vegetables, grapes, trulli, wonderful lunch with Maria (Trulli alla controra)..the list is long of all the wonderful experiences today. Compliments to Francesco Consoli and Elio Roma (and all those involved with the trail work)! And thank you for the best marked route we have experienced in Italy since moving here over 5 years ago. We are ready for tomorrow

Tappa 2

Castellana Grotte – Alberobello, 18+km/11+ miles. Today the landscape changed from yesterday’s field crops to more pastureland and dairy farms but still plenty of groves of olives and almonds and of course, the architecturally unique trulli. On a personal note, we are loving this cammino. Weather a bit hotter than expected, so we’re getting earlier starts to our day. Another great dinner planned for this evening to refuel and enjoy the local cuisine

Tappa 3

Alberobello – Locorotondo, 19.9 km/ 10.5 mi. The weather has been clear (thankfully) and hot😎 so spending most of the day on a lovely and well-shaded wooded trail was a blessing and a pleasure. Stopped for an abundant and delicious taster’s menu lunch at L’Arco Antico – Ristorante Pizzeria, just off the trail. Thank you, Pasquale for your passion with food! We finished up the day’s walk in the historic center of Locorotondo

tappa 4

Locorotondo – Martina Franca, 16+ km /10+ mi. We quickly exited the lovely city of Locorotondo to the countryside into a wooded trail. But first the signs took us through the State Agricultural Technical Institute and its large complex, which included historic gardens and the Masseria (farmhouse) Ferragnano. It was so heartening to see young adults getting gardening instruction as we walked past them early in the morning. Then on to bucolic country roads with stone fences, trulli old and new and cultivated fields and olive groves. Our day passed through quaint hamlets of whitewashed trulli.. a very picturesque day culminating in baroque adorned Martina Franca. We are happy pilgrims.

Tappa 5

Martina Franca – Crispiano, 30+ km/19 mi. Today was the longest day but beautifully set in forests. I think that the trees were talking a bit to each other. A very relaxing experience. When the trail left the woods for a moment, we saw large dairy farms and some more trulli. Us old folks are happy that we didn’t quit but that we enjoyed this wonderful day. I do have to say our feet are a tiny bit tired.

Tappa 6

Crispiano – Taranto, 24.5km/15.2m. We have arrived at our last stage … excited, tired but ready to see what today’s trails were like and to reach Taranto on the Ionian Sea. We were surprised at the diversity, open plains, rocky trails through scrub growth, wide grassy roads through groves of ancient olive trees. Just a very interesting and satisfying day to end our 6-day cammino. We arrived in Taranto midafternoon, got our final passport stamp and threw our travel stone into the sea at the Sailors’ Monument.

Quick note about lack of food pictures. This trip I just wanted to relax and completely enjoy my dining experience without using my phone. Good for me as well as for those dining near us, especially at some of the nicer restaurants. Our two favorites were Ristorante Antiche Mura in Polignano and Gaonas in Martina Franca. Both outstanding. And we are so very glad we stopped along the trail for our taster lunches on Tappa 1 & 3: Trulli all controro & L’arco Antico. We headed home by train, picked up our kitties that were sulking at the kennel and I’m already planning the cammino for next year! 😂 Huge complements to everyone involved with this cammino, working diligently to make this an outstanding experience!

And how are Pierre and Sofie now back from the kennel and acclimating to the new house?

I hope you enjoyed this posting and please let me know if you have any questions about how and why we do what we do here. Each expat/resident has different experiences, and I can only share what I know personally. I look forward to your comments and will return soon with more to share. Thank you!

Our everchanging view

A Change of Place

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Preparing for the Next Adventure

My husband comes with many talents and home renovation is definitely high on that list.  Recently, his skills in painting and tiling have factored into the updating of our master bathroom, entrance hall and kitchen. We discussed our ideas for the new look and he is was full steam ahead. Yes, Tim Allen (The Tool Man) is one of his heroes.

We’ve been pushing hard on updates, as we have decided to sell our home here in Roccaspinalveti and move closer to the Adriatic Sea, in turn being closer to my San Salvo cousins. It’s been a tough decision but one we knew would eventually come, just not so soon. Four years ago, when we were looking for a house to buy in Abruzzo, our intention was to downsize from our chalet-style home in Virginia and find a country house primarily for just the two of us with one or two guest rooms. Finding this home here in the Frentani Mountains of Abruzzo, didn’t actually scream ‘downsize’. It was much larger than we needed and it came with two apartments and a large backyard. But the deal was too good to pass up, the views outstanding and the house was move-in ready. The lower apartment, we successfully rented out short term through Airbnb and Booking.com. During this time, I found out that I had cousins from my mother’s family living in San Salvo. What a wonderful discovery. The desire to move closer to them naturally evolved and it has certainly intensified these past two years with COVID restrictions. Now the goals for updating our home here in Rocca are a sweet response to us finding family!

As the house is about 45 years old, there was some cosmetic updating to be done along with a few major additions, such as adding a new boiler and double-glazed windows to our living space. After we stripped the old wallpaper and gave all the walls fresh paint, John was ready for some major tiling work.

To give the house more flow from one room to the next, we decided to over-tile the kitchen, entrance hall all the way into the bathroom. As original tile had been placed into concrete, there was no easy way to remove it. We opted to tile over the old, which is a very common method here. Our go-to source for tile at a reasonable price delivered was Edilizia Del Gesso srl in nearby Gissi, a great family-run builders supply company. John was able to get not only the tile off the lot, but the proper primer, adhesive and grout to insure a successful installation.

Before – We actually loved our original kitchen tile, but it was way too soft to stand up to heavy traffic. As you can see, each space had a different tile as do all the rooms on this main floor. We felt that the kitchen space, hallways and eventually the master bathroom should all flow with one tile.

Work in progress and completion – John primed the old tile in order to prepare for the new tile to adhere. The edges of the new tiles were beveled where they met rooms with original tiles.

Once John completed the hall & kitchen tiling project, he was ready to renovate our master bathroom. This bathroom was originally all pink, a color very popular years ago. We decided a more tranquil color scheme would work for us and future owners. Pink toilet and bidet were replaced with a white toilet and bidet wand. We purchased special epoxy tile paint (online from Leroy Merlin supplies) to cover the pink & brown flowered tiles with a cream color, while other original tiles where covered with a stunning faux stone porcelain purchased from same building supply in Gissi. Floor tiles would be a continuation of the hall project. The two cabinets were spray painted a cream color very similar to the painted tile and plaster walls were painted a calming sand/mocha color.

The bathroom consists of two rooms joined by a very narrow opening. The front room features the sink, medicine cabinet and toilet, with the second room containing a small accordion-style shower. This I wanted to replace with a deep soaking bathtub and shower combo. We were able to buy the perfect tub online from Manomano as well as the duel-head shower system. John opened up the narrow doorway between these two rooms with an archway for an elegant look. You’ll see in the pictures below where he added a step for us to enter the deeper style tub/shower combo. An old window that connected a hallway to the bathroom had to be removed and the opening blocked in and tiled over. John finished the renovation with a glass enclosure (Amazon.it), towel warmer and floor tile. I am very spoiled with my own personal Tool Man!

As this was John’s last major project inside, he went to tackle the outside house painting. He is fearless on long ladders, both when he built our home in Virginia as well as painting here. I did give a huge sigh of relief when his ladder work was finished.

House is now freshly painted, flowers are happily blooming with all the recent rain and we are out hiking again. The house is on the market with the wonderful agency out of San Salvo – Abruzzo Rural Property. Our dear friend and agent Monia di Guilmi helped us find our home here in Roccaspinalveti and now she will be showing it to perspective buyers and handling its sale. The listing is lovely with great pictures! Take a peek😀

We will keep you posted as things progress with our next exciting adventure. Roccaspinalveti has been an amazing place to live. It has truly been our home for these past 4 years and we will miss so much about it; friends made, mountains hiked, enjoying the views from our home, and just the pure essence of living in this mountain town in Abruzzo. We will be certain to return for many a visit!

Casa Serre

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To Rent Our Holiday Apartment…or not

A little over three years ago, we purchased our lovely home here in Roccaspinalveti, but in actuality it took us 4 years prior to our purchase to actually find it.

While we were in the process of retiring from out careers in Virginia, selling our chalet home in the mountains with thoughts of downsizing in Abruzzo, I had been already cruising some excellent home sites and creating our top 20 home list. A few houses kept coming up on that list over time and a few I should have crossed off as way too big for just two old retired folks! .

So we moved to Abruzzo, rented a farmhouse and started to look at houses with a few realtors and ended up, happily, here in Roccaspinalveti with a house of two complete apartments! What can I say… we couldn’t resist the view, great condition of this more modern house (built in mid’70s), the price (which I had followed for three years as it slowly came into our budget), good size yard, private parking area, etc. We were hooked. Now what should we do with the apartment below us?

Certainly, family and friends would come to visit us here in wild Abruzzo! They could stay with us and have their own apartment with privacy and the dynamite view. Good thought but it didn’t look like a lot of takers from the get-go. Friends dream but reality of a busy life in the US prevented them from coming over. We planned to visit the US and family planned to come to see us but then COVID hit and plans were crushed. As we are very avid promoters of this area, we then decided to offer the apartment on Airbnb & Booking.com. And we did! And it was a grand success! Why?

John and I both have strong hospitality backgrounds, with John as a professional chef and I had worked at a B&B as well as Customer Service/Tour guide at Virginia Distillery. Both of us have OC tendencies so offering a sparkling clean accommodation with numerous amenities was just something we fell into naturally. We gave the apartment a name: Case Serre Holiday Apartment; Serre being the neighborhood that we lived in. It offers its own private entrance and parking area, long balcony looking out over the mountains and hills of southern Abruzzo… our backyard. Here are a few pictures of the apartment and view.

The perks were many: meeting wonderful folks, promoting the area and artists, offering a relaxing and comfortable accommodation where only one B&B existed in town, and having extra income to help with our upgrades in our home. Most of our bookings were from the US, UK and Italy, with a few other countries mixed in. We had guests who came to relax and hardly leave the property. Others went hiking, headed to the beach for the day, went house hunting, and others came to work in the area. The list was varied with such lasting experiences they enjoyed as well as for us, meeting and hosting them.

John and I divided the labor. I did all the social media & website, handled the bookings, laundry, making up beds, restocking. John did all the refurbishing, maintenance, cleaned the bathroom and kitchen, vacuumed. We realized, after the first season, we had to set a minimum of 2 nights for a booking. It just took too long to clean, and then turn the apartment around to be rebooked after just one night. We had space to accommodate 6 guests, but changed the setup to only allow up to 4 guests the following season. Again, a lot of work with not much return when you consider that I was doing all the laundry.

Even during COVID, we stayed open. We added self-checkin with a lockbox for the keys. Guests had instructions sent to them prior to arrival and also instructions in the apartment. We’d greet our guests across the courtyard, but we all maintained our distance. So we had three great years, with exceptional ratings by Airbnb & Booking.com. Our guests couldn’t have been kinder with their reviews!

So, why did we close after just three years if things were going so great? Apart from the stringent COVID cleaning regulations, which most days left me exhausted, there was the lack of privacy. As the apartment was part of our home, we felt it essential to maintain a level of quietness on our part in order to ensure our guests were not disturbed. Also, our immediate backyard was basically off limits to us as it was part of the package for our guests. Outside management may be worth considering for those thinking of doing this type of rental. It takes the pressure off of you and you have your freedom to travel. We just couldn’t work that into our pricing during COVID, but it is definitely one way to manage a holiday apartment.

Then there were the minor damages, breakage, staining, and theft. The majorities of these were never brought to our attention and only found after the guests checked out. Did we use our insurance to cover? Not worth it was it because it was never large enough but certainly annoying enough. I think if we had done this fulltime while we were younger, it may not have been so taxing. But at our age… retirement…we just didn’t need the hassle. Now these guests were not the norm and we had many wonderful guests, but it was just time for us to move on to another adventure. I have to proudly say that we did this rental well. We had many positive reviews and high scores with both Booking.com and Airbnb. So we felt it was time to close on a high note and we are very grateful and thankful to the wonderful guests we were able to host.

Roccaspinalveti now has a couple more rentals and B&Bs and we are happy to see this trend in our town. There is just so much to see and experience and we hope folks will continue to make their way to this part of Abruzzo.

The winter is now upon us and we are working on a few more upgrade projects in our home. We’ll keep you posted of our next adventure here. Until then have a blessed Christmas and Holiday Season!

The Transformation

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My dear husband mentioned just the other day how he never seems to be without a project. I wince a bit as we didn’t move to Italy to work nonstop on projects. It’s tough when you’re multi-talented. It sounds boastful, but it’s actually true. John is highly skilled in a number of job categories when building or renovating; electrician, plumber, bricklayer, tile layer, just to name a few.

This house isn’t a large project, it just needed some updating. We actually put the main living space on hold as we’re getting the lower apartment ready for guests. From past experience, I knew I had to set some kind of schedule with goals. With that said, I also knew we’d never keep them. Life just has a way of changing what we plan. But we’re adapting and trying to be flexible. Ha, like that’s possible for two seriously OCD folks! We’ve been working since March, on and off (had a vacation thrown in there) and it’s ready! It is now listed on Airbnb, as John madly finished renovating the bathroom today!

Tile tip from John

Save your old masonry drill bits. They come in handy when you’re drilling holes into tiles. Take the old bit in your hand, using a bit that is the same size as the hole to be drilled. Holding the tip slightly away from the surface of the tile, gently tap with hammer on spot to be drilled, just enough to make a mark in the glaze. Then when you drill the hole with the new bit, it will not chip or jump off the mark.

To add some personal touches, John did a lot of finishing of older furniture pieces, and I had fun with bright paint colors. Linens for bathroom and bedrooms came either from IKEA or a hotel website that specializes in everything one could need for a hotel, B&B or agriturismo. I kid John that he is ” the back of the house” and I’m “the front. ”

Oh and during all this crazy work, we actually slipped in our first cooking experience in the middle of our renovation. Big huge thanks to Rina & Angelica of Trattoria La Fonte, here in Serre. Our friend, Alex, and her niece and boyfriend, were our test subjects. Wonderful time, good food to eat and great ideas for the next time. ( You can read about these experiences on our Casa Serre site – https://casaserre.com/what-to-do/workshops-tours/ )

We realize we are a bit late to receive bookings for this season, as most folks have already solidified their travel plans. There is the satisfaction of a job well done and the apartment will keep just fine as we wait for family, friends and guests to arrive in the near future.

I wanted to show you some before and after interior shots. The before shots are from a realty site and are most likely a few years old. This house had been on the market a few years before we purchased it. And as you will see, a wide angle lens was used, as normally the case for listing. I’ll share exterior shots in a future posting. Still working away on those. 😉

Master Bedroom
Kitchen
Den with daybed
Lounge area – double futon
Bathroom

So apart from some wall design applications, we’re pretty much done on the inside. This has all transpired through cold rainy spring and now a unbearable heat wave. The heat wave should be breaking soon and we’ll tackle the outside upgrades to the parking area and patio.

On the non-project side of life, we have some exciting news that relates to life here in Italy. I’m going to share some pics and the experience in my next blog.

Until then, I’ll leave you with some views…I will never get enough…

Montazzoli & Maiella
Predawn walk

More DIY

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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.

  • Tub Demolition
  • Shower & Tub are history

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….

  • Nightstand before
Top before
Top afterwards
One of two nightstands now in guest master bedroom
Nightstand in guest den/bedroom
  • Kitchen sideboard before
  • And after
  • work in progress
  • John created this new headboard!

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.

original front
Front View At Time of Purchase
updated front
Update View – Romeo at the gate adds a nice touch;-)
The gate to the right is private entrance to guest apartment.


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. 😉

View Toward Town of Carunchio from Guest Master Bedroom

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…..