From Spain to Tuscany
Engineers Paul and Julie dreamt of a rustic stone house with beams ‘oozing with charm’ and room in the garden for some chickens. The couple from Wigan were approaching retirement and with three grown-up children between them, they wanted somewhere that the growing family could share.
They thought they might find this near Tarragona, in the northern Spanish region of Catalonia. They’d never been there before but knew it wasn’t one of the busy coastal areas so though they’d give it a go. Last week, you might have seen the couple appear on A Place in the Sun looking for their rustic detached home with a budget of up to £150k. But they did not end up buying the property they made an offer on at the end of the show!
The couple decided to look instead to Italy and to northern Tuscany, an area they had liked after a holiday or two there. Unlike the Chianti/Florence area it was relatively free from tourists, very green and also had the peaceful feel they wanted. In May 2024, they headed back to the Lunigiana area, to a location around Bagnone. They found an agent they felt very comfortable with – Lunigiana 2000 – and bought a three-bedroom house in Iera, 6km northwest of Bagnone.
“It has vaulted cellars, lots of charm and heaps of potential – Paul is thinking of a bar or gym - and it only cost €60,000,” says Julie, 53. “It’s brilliant. It was last decorated in the 1980s so needs some work but it’s liveable. It needed a new boiler and shower. But we’ve met our neighbour Barbara, who is lovely and it’s a great little town.”
The couple have visited four times a year and are getting to love the area. It’s 1hr15 from Pisa airport and are starting to explore by bike, train or on Paul’s new motorbike – a Honda Gold Wing touring bike. They love the pretty Cinque Terre coast over the border in Liguria – the string of little colourful fishing villages clinging to the cliff on the Italian Riviera.
They might be eating pasta rather than tapas but they are very happy to be doing to. Says Paul. “We could live in Italy, it’s lovely. After the anti-tourism protests in Spain last summer and then the latest comments from the Spanish prime minister we feel that things turned out for the best.
SEARCH FOR PROPERTY IN BAGNONE
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