Since I was a little girl I have been infatuated by Italy. My first trip as a teen was amazing. I toured the entire country with my classmates, and instantly fell in love. I can’t quite describe the feeling I get when I am there, but it is a feeling of being home. Like my soul is at peace and I am where I belong. From that first trip on, it has been my goal to have a home there. Francis Mayes became my idol and was obsessed with the movie, “Under the Tuscan Sun.” And now after searching for two years, I am leaving this weekend to close on my new house in San Giovanni D’Asso (a comune of Montalcino), Tuscany.
We looked at many properties on my last trip to Italy in September. In fact, I shared many of them in stories. The home that we chose captivated me from the moment I got out of the car. It is a 3 bedroom small farmhouse with an annex(barn) on 5 acres of property with 25 olive trees overlooking the stunning Val D’Orchia. As I pulled up to this house the first thing I noticed were the beautiful blue doors. Over the front door was a sculpture of the Blessed Mother (pictured above). I instantly felt like this was the right place. This was our home!
As I walked through this farmhouse that basically is a shell, I fell in love. And now after three months of back and forth emails and other communications with lawyers, real estate agencies and notaries, my husband and I are about to embark on a crazy journey of refurbishing this home.
Through my amazing real estate agent Francesca at Sothebys, I was able to find an architect. I have gone over design ideas with them and soon construction will start. I worry about how I am going to do this, mostly from the USA. I assume I will have to make frequent trips to check on things…twist my arm. But, there are inevitably going to be so many decisions that are going to have to be made via zoom or a phone call. It might not all go smoothly, I mean what construction job does, but I am ready and up for the challenge. It all will be worth it to someday be able to sit there with my entire crazy Italian American family and share a meal together.
I might even have to learn how to farm my olive trees and make olive oil, which in itself is going to be comical because I certainly do not have a green thumb.
I will share all of it. So be sure to follow along. I am ready to start my life in “La Dolce Vita.”