Back in 2023 we bought an Army Barracks in our village. It was completely covered in brambles, and partially buried when rain bought down part of the hillside years ago.

It had been abandoned for many years.

Now it’s La Caserma & is up and running as a holiday stay with three large apartments & we’ve already welcomed quite a few guests.

I’m in catch up mode writing all about the process so be sure to subscribe.

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Interesting stories & things to watch

• Antonio Cangiano - loving everything he is sharing over on his substack

• Olives & Walnuts - ‘‘the time of your life is now - restoring a farmhouse with zero experience’’

• Tales from Tuscany - Marisa Raoul (group member)

Featured Group Member

Villa Marta Diaries

Buongiorno! We are starting our renovation journey in Italy and taking on some old farm houses and a big villa as our project to turn them into a destination wedding venue. I’m happy to hear any advice regarding the renovations and feedback from someone who has renovated similar state villas/houses.

If you are interested in our journey we started a YouTube channel and here is our first episode:

In this issue: I 🧡 these....

Have you found the Instagram account of group member Charles Dixon at Palazzo di Castello? I’ve been following along for a while now and love it.

Do any of you have Instagram accounts that visually document your renovations? If so, I would love to see them! I’m searching for inspiration! Share a link in the comment section.

Do you have a relevant business, blog, vlog, or something you’d like to share related to Italy? Add it to our Directory, just fill out the form and it is automatically added… easy peasy!

❤️ Join us in the Facebook group - what we’re talking about

• What do you find to be the MOST different thing in Italy compared to your home country?

• When to use a professional - did you use an engineer?

• Anyone here who ultimately gave up on moving forward with their renovation project? If so, what led you to throw in the towel?

  Join the Group

Got an idea, feedback, story or want to contribute to our newsletters, just let me know at admin@renovatingitaly.com or in the comments.

One Renovation Thing

“Know someone who’s been sitting on the sidelines, waiting until they feel ready to create their Italian life? Send them this. Sometimes the push has to come from someone they trust.”

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I started posting over on our Renovating Italy Facebook page years ago with the heading ‘Our Italian Life’ and I love it when these posts come up on my memories, does that happen for you? I always screenshot them 😊

So I thought I’d start again here ....

Our Italian Life

Summer in the Valley is glorious, it’s a chance to dust off my shorts, get a bit of a tan, have my morning coffee on the balcony and of course we welcome lots of guests to our Loft Apartment here at our home.

In summer Sam and Luca cook for guests at Le Casemette which means I have the house all to myself for a bit YAY!! He is learning lots and is a natural in the kitchen like dad.

Carina has been in Sardegna working at a big resort there as a photographer for the entire summer.

Last year she was in Tuscany doing the same, she really is super talented and sport photography is her big passion.

Follow her at Carina Chiodo Photography on Instagram

or find her Website here (which she set up entirely on her own, INDEPENDENT is her middle name)

It’s only 10am here so the rest of the day is yet to come, but I wanted to get started and hope you’ll join us for more of

‘’Our Italian Life’‘

Are you in Italy?? Wherever you are I’d love to hear a bit about your life today...

ciao for now

Lisa xo

Join now for all the Club news, updates, and info, and you’ll be the first in the know about everything we are creating!!! Join Below ⤵️ See you on the inside??

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The Latest from the Club...

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Lisa

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We were just about grab a coffee and thought: wouldn’t it be nice if we could have one with you? A little getting-to-know-you session.

We’ve met so many incredible people through these pages. People with big dreams who are living & renovating in Italy, people planning an Italian life, and kindred spirits from all over the world. So we wanted to create a space just for us.

We’ve officially opened The Village Café.

Think of this as our private “clubhouse.” we love our Facebook group, but The Village Café is different:

• Sometimes we just want a quiet corner where we can talk without all the noise and distractions.

• We’ve opened this space so we can send you a quick photo of the morning light or the latest Reno, and we can just... chat. No fuss, no cluttered feeds—just a direct way for us all to stay in touch, like a long-running conversation between friends who always have a seat saved for each other.

How to join me for coffee:

Get the App

1. Get the Substack App (This is where the café truly comes to life).

2. Open the app and tap the Chat icon (the two speech bubbles) at the bottom.

3. Tap into the Renovating Italy Club to find our first thread.

Join the Village Cafe Here

I’ve started our first conversation already. I’m dying to know:

• Where are you staying, and what have you been doing here in Italy?

• What are you creating, thinking, or dreaming about lately?

• If this is your first coffee in Italy, how does it taste, and where are we sitting? (By the sea? In the mountains? Under the sun?)

• And… what would you like to know about us?

I’m all ears. Come say hi and maybe even share a photo of your own coffee or your view today—I can’t wait to see where you are!

See you at the Café,

Join the Village Cafe Here

Group Member Highlight

- Ashley Tayor-Wood

Restoration of 1700’s Italian town house.
📍 Rivergaro, Piacenza
Instagram Project Il Forno

I’m restoring a 1700’s town house in northern Italy. Its original purpose was a military post for an Austrian officer. I’ve always felt that the house is more ‘industrial’ than ‘country’

These beams had to be replaced, they were totally rotten. The bricks between the beams are all original.We managed to keep the original beams in other rooms.

💬 In this issue: I 🧡 this....

Isis & Bertus Stories from the Cascina - a Belgian-Dutch couple who are restoring a dilapidated farmstead nestled in the rolling hills of the Langhe in Piemonte, Italy.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT IN THE GROUP

Can you believe there are more than 9,000 of us here now? 🤯

• Monday Inspirations from Roger Hampton

• Lets talk about Heating

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One Renovation Thing

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Sitting in the sun at my favourite café dreaming of Italy and flicking through a magazine, I had to laugh at myself.

A fashion shoot of a beautiful pale girl in an abandoned building, and I was thinking that it wouldn’t take much to get that wallpaper off, and how beautiful the floorboards would be stripped back and re polished. I could vividly describe to you the pattern of the wallpaper, high ceilings and elegant stairway yet couldn’t tell you a single thing the girl was wearing.

I come from a family of women who carry tape measures in their handbags. Notebooks filled with little sketches of furniture and measurements.

Who navigate by what the house looks like on the relevant corner…the one with the picture windows, the one with the gorgeous picket fence. The women in my family know exactly the house I am talking about, and usually tell me to take the next left and have a look at the house with the sunflowers peeking over the fence.

I have a passion that must be genetic, I can’t walk down the street without mentally revamping each house I pass. Heaven help you if you get my Mum along, she is often tempted to put a little note in the letter box saying how well a change of colour would set off the garden. That’s her painting at our first home, see it runs in the family.

It is the women in my family who are the renovators, the ones with vision and an eye for detail. The ones who feel the life of a house, draw it forth once more.

I knew as soon as my hand lingered over worn rock, felt the heart captured in timeless ancient buildings, that I belonged to Italy

Ever since I was a child swinging in the park with my best friend Carolyn, I have wanted to venture forth. I was the first of our family to travel abroad and suddenly the whole world opened up. I travelled though Europe, England, America and parts of Asia, yet it was always Italy that filled my heart.

The art, the history, the people and of course the architecture, Italy picked me up, whirled me around and gave me passionate kisses on each cheek.

It felt as if I had come home, as if I had never left.

My heart now belongs not only to Italy but to an Italian man, he is my soul. Our children speak with their hands, and live straight from the heart. Even I am often surprised by their beauty, the very Italianess of them. Italy gave me a gift, one I treasure and one I share with you. Now I love to write about Italy.

Yes I write about Italy. She is my passion, and I love her company and the gifts she has given me.

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One Renovation Thing

So many people ask me what it's really like living here at the foot of the Alps in Piemonte Italy... or rather they ask me how can we live such a simple life, & create a home that is far away from our life before Italy... and my answer normally is we just decided one day to do it.

Our first reno in Italy was way back in 2005

If I were honest I'd say think about it first, and really know what you are trying to achieve and how you will stick to that dream when the distractions of life come along to draw you away.

So for me it is my laptop and all the tech stuff, my group on Facebook (which I love), the photos, the blog, and online friends, tuning out rather than tuning into the simple life I say I want...well the simple life that my husband says we want.

I'd be quite happy strolling around Florence or Lucca or Sicily, I want to travel and explore, it has been my dream since I was a teenager. I moved to England and backpacked my way around Europe and America in my 20's for two years.

How do we stay sane, renovating together for so many years as a married couple with kids? We've been doing this a long time now, both in Australia & Italy. What is our actual story, how much do I really want to share, how do I really feel about living here in Italy, what do I wish we had done differently? What needs to change??

I'll be sharing in the new Club

All things renovating and living the simple life here in Italy

Here are a few personal story ideas (let me know what you'd like to hear about)

1. Renovating multiple projects and staying sane

2. Keeping a relationship romantic during multiple messy renovations

3. Living in the chaos of renovations,

4. Hosting guests & creating the BnB

5. Simple living and how we do it

6. All about the animals, the locals, the food, the lifestyle in a Borgata (hamlet)

7. Living with the seasons

8. Helping people who are coming to look at houses

9. when everyone speaks fluent Italian but me

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So tell me, would you like to hear some more personal stories?? OR more renovation stories?? OR a mix of both?

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One Renovation Thing

Slowly I am reawakening to the simple life we chose, I know there’s someone reading this today who is exactly where we were all those years ago. If that’s you, I want to tell you that you’re on the right path.

Choose

The first step for creating a simple life is to make a choice to do just that.

Choosing to live a simple life is an ongoing process, I see how far along we are when guests come to stay, and they tell us we live in paradise, that they wish they could do what we are doing, leave the rat race, grow food, have no debt, and of course do all of this in Bella Italia.

Set the Date

Thinking back to when we decided to make the move to Italy, setting the date into the future was so freeing. I no longer went shopping for things I didn’t really need, I knew we were making the move! No longer window shopping I had a list of things we’d need, luggage, warm clothes (we were arriving into Italian winter), actually thinking about it now we didn’t actually need much of the ‘stuff’ I thought was so essential.

Setting the date was the most important choice we made, everything else fell into place around that!

Nature

Go to the river and skip rocks or head to the mountains and forage. Pick a flower, or cut a few herbs from the orto. Sit in the sun for a few minutes and feel the warmth, be still as a friendly cat decides your lap is the perfect bed, and watch fat bumblebees dancing over the flowers you’ve planted. Watch the stars, or the fire flies, this life is such a gift!

Delight

I’m talking about true joy here! How does that look for you? Is it an outdoor concert, a day at the market, reading a new book, visiting an art gallery – make your own list! Check to see what’s going on in your area. Book a concert with a friend. Go to local festivals, recently I’ve been to Elfest, the White Night dinner, a music festival at the top of the Alps. Have a picnic & chill your bottle of Prosecco in a mountain stream. Find something FUN – and go do it!

Life is short and taking pleasure in each day is essential 🤍

It's been a very hot dry summer, the clouds occasionally rumble loudly, and finally we are getting a bit of rain. I notice in the Orto that we have no bugs at all, normally under the coverered section we get all kinds of insects (which eventually find the way back out) but this year not one.

We find ways to keep the house temperature down, and luckily with it being traditional and made of rock it stays fairly cool. We don't have air conditioning, although we did hit the local hardware store and bought a few fans just to keep the air moving.

Our guests are finding it way cooler here than wherever they have come from which is a bonus. Being in an alpine valley we have easy access to rock pools for a swim to cool down, all the local kids know where the best spots are.

The simple life is going strong, the orto is filled with goodies, I love going to water it in the evening and picking beans, strawberries and trying the tomatos warm from the days sunshine. It's blackberry time, each day I can fill a bowl to have for dessert with a bit of cream. Life is good.

If you want to check out some more pics and stories I am starting to share them over at Renovating Italy on Facebook and on Instagram

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One Simple Thing

Whistling Primroses

These are the first sign of spring, much longed for by yours truly after having two months with no sun entering our house. It’s hard to imagine the effect of no sun in your house until you experience it. It wasn’t something we gave a great deal of thought to back when we bought the house.

Sunlight

The best thing about no sunlight for two months is that we all go a little bit crazy when the sun finally returns, like an old friend you haven’t seen since forever. Our sunshine is very shy and today was the first day this year that she has entered and shone her light onto the little garden on our kitchen windowsill.

She only stayed an hour

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On living in Italy, renovating, wellbeing & creativity.
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We've had the wood fire burning here in our little home in the Italian Alps.

Very little snow so far but it's certainly coming.

Sam and Luca have been working hard down at the Army Barrack (La Caserma) and our daughter is doing really well with her photography and will be doing a workshop in Milan in May.

I'm all good and just recovering from a rotten cold…

Read more

and the beautiful people stole my soul...

I am forever in love with Morocco and the people who made every moment special in a way I never expected.

After over 3300 kms in a car, from the mountains, to the beach to the desert we met the people of Morocco where they live, and they are beautiful heart and soul. Everyone made us welcome, and one man even paid for our breakfast, it was truly a touching, soul enhancing journey, and

I've never seen our son so relaxed and at ease with strangers.

Can you tell I'm in love, we just had the best three weeks and I can't wait to get back.

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• Really Renovating Italy

• Lets have a coffee and a chat!

• Behind the Scenes - Army Barrack renovation

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• Life is full of beautiful moments

• Top tips for an inexpensive or temporary makeover

One Renovation Thing

Tweaking the website, fixing & re shuffling my life online. Convinced that if I can only get this part of my life sorted then everything else will fall into place.

When I first moved to Italy I vowed to re-connect my disconnected little family,  ‘learn Italian’ practice Yoga, walk each day, make friends, travel and create a simpler life. Years later and it’s still a work in progress and now I’m hiding out.

My inbox & facebook feed has been filled with “Life is Wonderful YAY isn’t everything just FAB” posts.

I have to say they drive me a little bit batty.

Of course I aim for my life to constantly be better, but it just reflects how far from reality it’s all become.

So there are a few things I would like to leave behind, namely hiding out!

Here’s my hiding out short list:

• We have become addicted to our tech. (Our family can often be found online, (with Carina often having both her tablet and her mobile phone going at once).

• I’m a slave to my online life. With my determination to ‘build my brand’ I’ve devoted all my time to my laptop. (There is always just one more thing that needs doing, learning, or sharing, & my online inundation seems worse than ever)

• I’m craving  connection, but I rarely leave the house. (Why venture out when I have so much to do here?)

And that’s why I am making my life about Connection!
A time where I finally commit to getting out of my own shell and experience things, people, connection, community and most of all, myself, out in the real world.

PS When I asked our son which was his favorite day EVER he instantly replied ‘the day in the park with the bike, bestest day ever’

❤️ Keep Reading

• Life is full of beautiful moments

• Top tips for an inexpensive or temporary makeover

• Lets have a coffee and a chat!

• Create your Move to Italy Checklist

One Life Thing

We've been working on the Army Barrack with lots still to do. The roof is almost complete, and then we can get in properly and finish the tiling, painting, etc. I'll post through the week with some update photos so stay tuned.

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Our Italian Life

I've been really unwell with pneumonia on my left lung, so I'm taking things easy. I had pneumonia twice in the past so it seems to be something that I'll have to deal with on repeat in coming years. I remember the doctor at the hospital in Australia telling me that once you've had it you'll have it returning.

It's weird when your teenager is so much taller than you! Height runs in my family with a very tall brother and tall cousins growing up someone was always patting us on the head. Now Luca thinks it's very funny to be able to do this especially to his ''big sister''

They've both grown up with renovating parents so I guess renovating will be in the blood! Either that or they'll never want to see another paintbrush or packing box for all the many moves we've made over the years.

Sam has been busy at the Army Barrack Renovation replacing the old asbestos roof, and the new roof is almost finished. It's been a huge project and I've been unable to lend a hand as I've had pneumonia (luckily it's almost gone now).

Spring has arrived at last and the weather is glorious, although not so much when you're up on a roof. As soon as I'm feel…

Read more

Even as I write this post, there has been a lot of progress on the exterior and the scafolding will soon be going up and we're getting ready for the new roof! We’re hoping this gets going (and quickly) as they say in my fav TV series Winter is Coming! As October approaches fast, we’re hoping all goes to plan. Once we get the roof done then things will start to move pretty quickly!

Kitchens, paint, lights, fixtures, and flooring. It’ll start really feeling like a place that has seen some TLC rather than being abandoned for the past twenty years.

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We've been collecting odds and ends of furniture from the Ri-Uso, everytime we see a bargain it ends up at the Barrack and I can't wait to put all the pieces together. There are three apartments and another one we'll use as a store room for now. So I can’t wait to get everything installed (and see all of the fun times we will have here!)

The Roof:

We've figured out what we’ll need and everything is ordered and ready to start. It’s a big project and luckily Sam is right on top of all the many parts that will need to go together to have the Army Barrack fully restored. The locals have been popping in for a visit and we've been hearing lots of history and stories about the place. When I have free time, you’ll find me browsing online for inspiration & the local history, I love this stuff!

Let’s talk Attic Rooms:

Renovating an Army Barrack (that will be used for holiday guests) means making a lot of decisions, and a lot of those decisions are based on ROI (return on income) and I have to remind myself constantly that what we do needs to be functional. This has especially been the case with decorating ideas, especially since a lot of those dreamy photos I've saved on Pinterest are probably not practical. Although looking at these photos of the attic bedrooms (our attic rooms are going to be white, rustic chic shhhh don't tell Sam) make me so happy.

I can not believe that September is already here. It feels like I blinked and suddenly the leaves are changing and we no longer need the fan on at night. It's time to dig out some long sleeved clothes for the evening. I have all our winter things put away in those big vacum bags & empty suitcases from our trips to Australia. Storage is a big problem here at our house in Borgata Malpertus.

With the slight chill in the air, we’re reminded that winter is right around the corner — which also means SNOW. I don't really stress over much but thinking of that roof coming off and being replaced has me a bit worried. Still the good thing about an Army Barrack is that they built them to withstand a lot, it's managed for over twenty years!

More Behind the Scenes Posts:

Behind the Reno: Our Army Barrack

Quick Links

• Submit a Story

• Finding Inspiration for Your Renovation

Useful Posts in the Renovating Italy fb group

• Kitchen Sinks - Who has experience with antique stone or marble sinks. The dreamer in me wants one for the farmhouse kitchen we are doing.

• Working with a Designer - Has anyone else done this long distance and how did you do it?

• Buying a new kitchen range - I am regrettably having to purchase a new range for my kitchen

One Renovation Thing

Ruddy heck it's snowing!!! It has been so hot here these past few weeks and then yesterday we had non stop rain then this morning snow on the mountaintops.

We've been working on the Army Barrack with lots still to do. The roof is meant to be done in October so once that is completed we can get in properly and do the tiling, painting, etc. I'll post through the week with some update photos so stay tuned.

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Welcome back! This issue features lots of ideas for your reno project, as well as some top tips about inexpensive ways to do a reno. We hope you enjoy it!

If you don't know us we're Lisa & Sam, and we love to Renovate! Over the years Sam & I have bought, updated & sold multiple homes in Australia. These days, we are creating a simple life & yep still renovating at the foot of the Alps in Piemonte Italy.

Rather than buying a Palazzo we buy and renovate small economical (Very Cheap, think under 20k) properties in the area and have a number of them on the go at the moment including The Army Barrack, Casa Bianca (seen here and still a work in progress) and another house in the next village to finish which I'm calling The Villar House for now.

We are currently focusing totally on the Army Barrack which has four apartments almost ready to go. We are replacing the roof, cleaning, putting in new windows and doors, tiling, painting, and doing LOTS of clearing in the chestnut grove surrounding the place which hasn't been done for many years.

you’ll be pleased to know there are some clever shortcuts you can take, to make the process, a lot easier.

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Why an Inexpensive Makeover?

One of the motivations for making the move to Italy was to be debt free and live a simple lifestyle, we are skilled in ''making do with what we have'' and each property has a purpose in mind before we buy it. We are always looking for a good return on investment with these homes (gotta leave something for the kids right!)

Casa Bianca being right next door to our own house will be a great place for family, guests and friends that come to visit to stay and enjoy a little taste of the simple life.

Totally Clear the Space

The first thing to be done is to totally clear the space. Don’t work around things, and be sure to clean as you go. We spent a day moving everything from the house up to our garage.

We’d been using Casa Bianca as storage for all the ‘treasures’ we found when we first arrived. So it was full of old bottles, baskets, furniture, an original bed frame, old suitcases, and a multitude of bits and bobs.

Get Organized

At least one person needs great organizational skills and the know how to put it all into practice. They say men don’t multitask well, but Sam has it to an art form, working on restoring the borgata, making lunch, picking up and dropping off the kids to school, making salami, preserves, and generally keeping everything running smoothly. He lives from his calendar.

I am the calm one in the partnership, smoothing the way, and you guessed it... I never look at my calendar.

Gather Inspiration

To kickstart your renovation, one of the very best things you can do is start with a “mood board”. Think of this as your initial masterplan. It may sound silly but it’s actually not!

Looking for ideas, I have hundreds of images on Pinterest. I keep my camera with me and take photos of things I like and ‘pin’ things I see online to my Casa Bianca inspiration board on Pinterest.

If you are working on any project Pinterest is a great way to keep everything together, just be careful not to fall down the rabbit hole and become one of those people who sit online pinning all day.

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Keeping costs low

See our shortlist of tips for an inexpensive reno... let us know your best tips in the comments below.

Planning the space will save you time and frustration later, it’s fairly easy to do this on a computer or even just sketched out in a notebook.

Reuse as many items as possible, we seem to throw nothing away here at the Borgata. In our own home we took the old board up from the floor in the lounge and ended up sanding them back and reusing them as a bench top and shelving.

Keep things which may be useful, we have a shed full of items to be used at a later date which have come in handy. Our neighbour also has a massive shed with all kinds of things that others may call junk, he has helped us out with many a thingamee bob. If we see a bargain item at the local Ri-Uso we buy it and know it will go into one of our renovations.

Call in some helpers, we have a great community of friends here who give us a hand in return for us helping them out. It’s a collaborative community, and it helps us keep costs low. Being local also means our neighbours know all the 'secret' ways and restoration techniques to get just the right results.

Shop online for prices and don’t be afraid to haggle (Sam has this to an art form). Be aware that locals will get a better price so get a local friend to go with you to the local stores for the first few times. Shop with a Realistic Budget.

Using a simple colour palette will help keep costs down, the room will be recoated white, and the texture gives it some depth. This also means that we can use left over paint products on other renovations helping to save on costs.

We will then add warmth with elements like soft furnishings or decorative elements on the walls.

Check with the Group

Of course, there are other smart ways to try & keep your costs under control. Our Renovating Italy group is a fantastic community (think people power) to get advice about items you’re likely to need for your reno.

From your bathroom to your bench tops, your appliances, tiles & all things in between, those tips from others actually renovating here in Italy are priceless. Be sure to check it out: Renovating Italy.

Research, research, research. It solves most problems! It really does pay to research and talk to anyone and everyone you meet, because you never know what advice they could offer, especially the locals in your area.

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Casa Bianca – A work in progress (and that's okay)!

» Taken out the old window and security bars and replaced it with a ready-made double-glazed window from Tecnomat which helped us to save on costs.

» Totally cleared the room of stored items like an old bed, the original windows, and items from other renovations.

» Cleared the sink area, removing the sink and pipes. Taken out the old pantry cupboard, removing the doors and shelves to make a wardrobe space.

» Sanded the wooden window ledge back to original timber ready for a clear coating. Scraped the walls and ceiling free of ridges and filled holes.

» Refinished the walls with stabilatura, a mixture that you trowel on. Sam became an expert at this after rendering our Loft Apartment.

» Replacing old flooring with ceramic tiles. These will be harder wearing than a floating floor. Tecnomat had a good range, and we found something we liked for 13 euro a square meter.

» Removed & replaced the old staircase to the upper floor which were twisted and rotting. This is just the initial steps going in, it's a skill going through to the upper floor!

Be sure to subscribe and follow along with the adventures, many things are in the works here at Borgata Malpertus. If you want to follow the progress of this reno, & our simple life in Italy be sure to join our Facebook or Insta page or find us over at Renovating Italy.

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more behind the scenes posts:

We buy the White House for 4 Thousand Euro (Casa Bianca)

A Very Rustic Lounge Room (The Main House.... hmm never named this house)

Lots more Renovation Stories

One Reno Thing

Villa de Vecchi

“Art is never finished, only abandoned.”

Leonardo Da Vinci

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Felix De Vecchi, a Count who had traveled many parts of the world and been a soldier came home to Italy. He bought with him a passion for the East which is reflected in the home he was about to create Villa de Vecchi.

Only in his thirties, it was a time of travel and romance. I imagine him wandering the area near Lake Como and deciding on the perfect place to build his summer house.

He chose the architect Alessandro Sidoli, and work progressed. The many innovations included are well documented, such as the use of heating tubes within the walls similar to those used today.  Serving hatches were used to bring food from the kitchens to the upper floors,  and the fountain was able to shoot into the air using pressure from the slope of the mountain.

It was a home created with passion and imagination. Extensive gardens and parkland were planted, a keepers house built, parties held, and many summers were spent living a charmed life.

Exquisite decorative fresco’s covered the walls and ceilings, in the hall there are the remains of a grand piano and a huge fireplace in the next room. We can only begin to  imagine how glorious it must have been.

Villa de Vecchi was a stunning  work created from the imagination of both men.

That it still brings forth such a response so many years later is a fitting testament to the creative genius of these men.

Sadly Alessandro was not to see the final result, he died a year before completion.

The count and his family were said not to live a full and happy life together at the Villa. It’s been reported that one day he returned home to find his wife murdered, her face disfigured and his daughter missing. He searched the woods for weeks without finding a trace. Distraught he killed himself. I do not in any way say this story is the truth but it is the popular story of what happened.

It was 1862, he was only forty six years old.

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After his death the house was passed to his brother Biagio, who at the end of the sixties completely removed the Eastern influence from the keepers house replacing the dome and decorations with stone. The Count’s family owned Villa de Vecchi and spent many summers in it’s beauty till the early forties.

Abandoned for the next twenty years it was sold and has had a number of owners.

This glorious dream a young man began so many years ago fell into decay, the pipes that had been so innovative helping in it’s downfall as they slowly broke within the walls. Vandals and time began the process which continues today.

The urban legend grows with talk of ghosts and tragedy.

Even as I look at these images I can picture Felix De Vecchi strolling through the grounds notebook in hand, dreams in his heart. Those who fell in love with the house and it’s beauty are attempting to save it. The process is complex yet I can only hope it succeeds.

Perhaps the legacy of Felix De Vecchi and Alessandro Sidoli will live on, with help not only from those close by but from all over the world. His story and that of Villa De Vecchi will one day be fully told and shared.

Please note every effort has been made to verify the above information for Villa de Vecchi, if you are able to update, correct or give any further information I would be very  happy to hear from you. ciao lisa

images ~ 1 ~ 2 ~  4 ~ 5 ~  7 ~ 8 ~ 9 ~ 10 ~ 11

further resources ~ Valsassina News ~ Salviami the Villa (fb) ~  Flickr  Jeff Kerwin

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