Lost Paradise Found

This begins the tale of our move from Umbria, just across the border from where we were, to Tuscany where we discovered our Lost Paradise Found.  An old, stone farmhouse that sits in the middle of 11 acres of trees and tranquility.  Pictured above is our driveway with some olive trees and fruit trees in view.

At the top of the driveway is an old ruin that sits in front of the house.  Because the foundation of this structure remains, permits are not required to rebuild on it!

There are lots of olive trees, fruit trees, nut trees and a large variety of flowers including this gorgeous lavender bush.  And there behind, you can see the house!

There is an unfinished apartment on the ground floor with beautiful lead, colored-glass windows on two sides.  Keep in mind, these photos are the "before" shots.  It may take a few months years for the "after" shots to become available.

In addition to the apartment on the ground floor there are also four separate cellars, two of which you can see above slightly hidden behind the pergola or arbor covered with grape vines.  The stairs on the left side of the photo lead up to the porch and the entrance of the house into the kitchen.  There was literally no kitchen when we bought the house, only a tiny stone sink in the corner -- but that's another post entirely. 

There are  cleared fields in the front of the house as well as in the back.  To the left you can see a solar panel which gives us heated water in the warm months of the year.  In the cold months, we have a large, wood-burning stove in one of the cellars which heats our water and also the radiators in the house.

There is a stall on the property which we would like to fix up and welcome a few chickens, or maybe a couple of dwarf goats, or a miniature donkey!

So here's how it went.  We saw a house we liked when my sister and her husband were visiting us in September 2013.  In October we made an offer.  In November we put down a deposit.  In May 2014 we signed papers.  In September 2014 we moved in after putting in a kitchen.  And that, my friends, is how things are done in Italy.  Piano, piano.  Very slowly!

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