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Buying and renovating a home in Italy was something Doug and Leah Johnson had often dreamed about.
The couple, who are based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, say they’d sometimes go to view houses while vacationing in the European country.
But splashing out on a property there hadn’t seemed like a viable option until Doug came across a listing for a 14th-century apartment in the town of Vasanello, located in the Italian region of Lazio, with a sale price of just 13,000 euros (about $13,450).
“The idea of something that was built in the 14th or 15th century was just really intriguing,” Doug Johnson tells CNN Travel, explaining that he has a penchant for “fixing up old buildings.”
Dream purchase
He immediately saw potential in the two-room home, featuring high ceilings and a large fireplace and after doing some research into Vasanello, which has a population of around 4,000, he was sold on the idea.
However, persuading his wife that purchasing an Italian home unseen was something they should seriously consider was far from easy.
“It took a lot of convincing,” says Leah, a retired art teacher. “People thought we were crazy.”
After spending many hours researching the town via Google Earth, the couple decided to put in an offer of 9,000 euros (equivalent to about $9,650 – 4,000 euros under the asking price) and were stunned when it was accepted.
While there were a few hitches during the sale process, they were able to travel to Italy to finalize the sale in June 2019.
“When we arrived, I knew the town so well,” explains Doug, who is also an art teacher. “I knew exactly where to park, and how to get to our apartment, where our realtor was waiting for us.”
Their visit happened to coincide with Infiorata del Corpus Domini, a local festival, during which residents pave the cobblestone roads between the local churches with flowers.
“It felt kind of magical that we were there for that time,” says Doug.
Vasanello is also home to a number of man-made caves, ancient walls and tombs that date back to the Etruscan period, which pre-dated Roman civilization.
Once the paperwork was out of the way, they were finally able to view the property that they’d previously only seen in photos.
“Actually being there was kind of mind blowing,” adds Doug. “We’d looked at the pictures so many times and just dreamed and wondered what it was going to be like.”
It soon became clear that the property was pretty much as the previous owner, who’d moved out many years before, had left it.
‘Lost in time’
“It was just incredibly ancient,” says Doug. “Everything was kind of lost in time.”
After inspecting their new property thoroughly, they opened up the shutters, taking the moment in.
“It was a great feeling,” adds Doug. “But of course, we realized there was a lot of work ahead of us.”
Although Johnson had some experience in renovating properties in the US, the couple had no idea how things would work in Italy.
“We’ve seen people on TV shows that had done it,” says Leah. “But we hadn’t ever spoken to anybody.”
They set about making design plans, and found an architect and a carpenter for the project.
While cleaning up the property, they discovered that some of the ancient terracotta tiles covering the floor were loose.
When they lifted them up, the pair were stunned to find that they could see the unit below, which was being used as a storage space, and alarm bells began to ring.
“I put the tiles back. And I thought, oh oh, that that might be an issue.”
It turned out that the structure “was not sound” and the support beams below the floor would need to be replaced.
The only way to complete the work was to contact the owners of the other unit underneath and ask for permission to enter.
Once they tracked the owner down, they decided to purchase the unit, at a cost of 3,500 euros (around $3,623), so that they could extend the property, as well as take some of the hassle out of the process.
“Once we owned it, it made it so much easier to restructure it [the ceiling].”
As all but one of the beams had deteriorated, they decided to rip out the entire ceiling, and connect the two units with a spiral staircase.
‘Ancient feel’
After buying two units in the same building, the couple found yet another section that they could utilize a wine cave below their second property – and decided to purchase that, at a cost of 2,500 euros (around $2,588).
They say they had to break a lock to get into the cave, which had been abandoned for many years, and were delighted to discover casks of Chianti and wine bottles.
They’ve since redone the stairs leading down to the cave and plan to fill it with wine racks and create a wine tasting area.