I’m too far along in my life to attempt to do what you and your family are doing, but I’m fascinated with the processes you are going through. The home you purchased is beautiful and can’t wait to see all of the touches you’ll be putting to it. I had the opportunity to drive along that area in 2018 and feel so fortunate to have had that experience! Good luck and this older lady will be cheering you on from the US!
Michael Blackmore love your spirit of adventure and your perseverance! After all, it’s more about the journeys we take than the destinations 😊 when we get to be this age we realize we’re always a work in progress! Enjoy every moment!
Congratulations on the birth of your new baby boy! This is a very exciting time for you and your girlfriend in so many, many ways! Thanks for sharing your videos.
I want to see your home, all the nooks and crannies, over and over again. I can’t stop thinking about living in Italy. Only I’m a young 70, and alone, so I couldn’t fix anything without help which I don’t have 😒😒😒. But at least, I’d like to live there for a while. I’ve been studying the language for a year now in the hopes. For now, I’ll have to watch you have all the fun!! Linda C/ USA
Hi Linda, I'm glad you like the house! Why not give it a go, 70 is no age at all! You don't have to find something as run down as ours, but I'm sure you could manage some paint and adding your own touches to make a wonderful home! Good luck, and congratulations on learning a new language, it's hard but so worthwhile! Stay safe, greetings to the US!
We are in the prosess of buying a house in Abruzzo in the next 1-3 years. Your videos are inspirational. Looking forward to the upcoming videos on the buying prosess as well as the renovation.
My husband and I just purchased our new home in Abruzzo region!! We started the process over 6 months ago. We’re in the U.S., so we can’t travel yet. Can’t wait to head back to Italy!! Happy house searching!
excellent ! my family is originally from Fivizzano, the other side of the mountain basically ... most people emigrated ( we to the not so sunny Bay Area for about 20 years) Now I work in Milan but as retirement I will go back to the roots....
Hi Paolo, I know Fivizzano, it's very pretty and even closer to the sea! It has been tough times in Milan, but it is slowly getting better I hear. Good luck and thanks for watching!
(Moira Ashton) Found it, the one with the painting, lovely colours, it looks just as if you have wings, I kept wanting to ask you to "Move over so I can see it all" 😍 The photo of the house at the front looks so beautiful, it will be stunning when finished , so looking forward to watching the progress on it!! 😊
Absolutely stunning what a beautiful house 🏠 it will look gorgeous when finished. It was our dream to do what you have done, left our run to late. we are in our seventies so we can only dream.
Hi Joyce, thank you, I fell in love with it at first sight! It might be a bit tricky to attack a full on restoration, but there are many places which just need some love, some paint and a good eye for decoration. It's never too late to fulfil a dream!
Not Useless Yet thanks for your reply only wishing you the very best, enjoy every moment living your dream. We had a trip booked for April and had to cancel because of the Corona virus, it was going to be our last overseas trip to Italy 🇮🇹 we are from Australia 🇦🇺 and the plane ✈️ journey is about 20 hours. We have wonderful memories of our last trip five years ago, three weeks in Rome, Tuscany and then a whole three weeks in Sicily wow it was out of this world, so much history and to think my parents left Sicily to migrate to Australia back in the early thirties they had a lot of courage.
Congratulations on the new baby! I have been thinking about moving to another country and I am very interested in what the process is and the difficulty of accomplishing this.
🖒 I have been watching and you have made that room so beautiful from what it was. You are doing a beautiful job and can not wait to see what you do to the entire villa.
You have a marvelous outlook and it's what you want, that you know what you want it to be, now and in the near future. You are itching to get on it...."let's go!!!!
I am watching this series of video backwards from most current to this point. What we call ass backwards. Which is fitting because that is how your project will be. I think it can be a beautiful property that fit your wants and needs. I chuckle at the patio bathroom. Oh my what have you got yourself into. The history of this property need to be preserved also. Do not throw away the papers in the trunks. It will be a great scrape book someday. It is such a shame how all the Italians have left their country and no one wants the family homes any longer. Just think of the history of that home. The events that took place in the area. I wish you the best. And congratulation on new baby. Stay safe
Hi Patti, well I'm glad you're enjoying so far, I hope the project isn't too ass backwards... I won't throw away anything that has any relevance to the house or the village! I am a bit of a nostalgic anyway! Thank you for your wishes, stay safe you too!
New subbie , Congrats to the birth of your baby boy, and I am looking forward to watching your progress , it is an amazing house with lots of little nooks and love the high ceilings. I just seen your latest video and you say your partner is a painter so is the image behind you some of her work, I do love it, also it looks like you have wings lol, Good luck to you all, xxxx Hugs Dede xxx
Hi Dede, Thank you, he's wonderful, and so is his brother! Well spotted, she paints big pictures and that is one of her's! Wings would help me fix the ceilings, but unfortunately I use a ladder, like everyone else... Thanks for watching!
@@NotUselessYet Well do tell her I love her work, totally my style, and you will get there dont worry, and hugs to Big Brother as well, xxxxxx Dede xxx
Wow! First of all, congratulations on the new baby. May he (?) bring you unknown joy. Secondly, where are you from originally? You sound as it may be my motherland, South Africa. It was such a joy to listen to you. Lastly, good luck with the renovations. I just know you will make a huge success of this.
Thank you Desire, yes he, and he's great, as is his brother. I am from London originally, so not quite South Africa! I hope the house turns out nicely, with love and patience we should be ok.
You may be interested to know the terrazzo tiles you are not so keen on in the bedroom sell at BALINEUM in the UK from £146 quid each!!! So there's alot to love!! BTW, terrazzo also work outdoors & maybe you could repurpose on your terrace.... BEST OF LUCK - BUONA FORTUNA
Hi Caro, that’s amazing, there are piles of them on every tip in northern Italy! They are already on the loggia.. anyway, I’m not going to tear them up, just cover them. Thanks for the wishes and for watching!
Hehe - "People told us not to buy it and we did it anyways". Our realtor and notaio both told us not to buy but - we did it anyways! Best decision of our lives. I think we're just down canyon from you (Bagni di Lucca). Was there until mid March, and hoping to get back soon. Just wanted to say I, and I'll follow...
Love the house and village but having watched your fab tour i might have layed the house out differently ,the main room ,going to be your sitting room i would have made a dining hall with an internal staircase to the two upstsirs rooms made into a bedroom ensuite .the room with basement access into a master bedroom with ensuite ,the little bedfroom with the built ensuite and the room leading onto the pillared balcony as a sitting room ,
Hi Stephen, I see what you mean, interesting! The 2 room upstairs are above what you would make the sitting room and there is a big structural wall between your dining hall and that room, so the staircase would have to go up from your living room. The real problem is that the rooms upstairs are both very small and the one to the side is pretty low too, so putting in even a spiral staircase would make the useable space tiny. I'm still pondering... I really like the idea of a bedroom that goes out onto the loggia. Nothing is written in stone yet, so I'll bear your thoughts in mind! Thanks for watching!
Pontremoli was always our half way point to my in laws who live near Lucca in Tuscany. I used to live in Lucca, now I'm in the North. You are close enough to lovely bays nearby you at Leirici. P. S. its a NOTAIO in Italian. Pronunciation of your region LOONEY JANNA
Hi Donna, Lucca and Lerici are very pretty! I am trying so very hard to learn Italian, but the accent and pronunciation will take some time yet! Thanks!
Hi Mirella, thank you for watching! The place I started was a website called www.casa.it it is easily the biggest and easiest to use. If you're looking near to where we are, you could do worse than looking up Davide at immobilnova in Pontremoli immobiliareimmobilnova.it/
Congratulations on to your new baby, I am sure he/she will love growing up in Italy, I sure did. (80-86) I know this is an odd question, as a single male, very resourceful, and highly skilled, do you feel $100.000 US could get me a place, and be enough to survive for a while until I figure life in Italy out. I lived in Gaeta in the 80s and want to return soon.
Hi Metal, we're not moving full time to Italy, I have a job in Austria, but the kids will be spending a lot of time here, and will grow up sort of Guinadese. I think 100k could absolutely get you going in Italy, with a house and everything, but it all depends on where, obviously some parts are more expensive than others. I am also not sure how health insurance works for non EU citizens, we can travel around and are insured everywhere...
Hi Blueberry, no we didn’t have it surveyed, I climbed through the eaves and asked the estate agent who confirmed that due to the altitude and cold winters termites aren’t so prevalent, I couldn’t see any of the telltale oval holes I know from when I lived in France, so fingers crossed.... I think if I probably would do it if we were to go through the process again.
Hi OJW, well the easiest is probably to use Chrome as a browser and once the page has loaded to click on the right hand side of the URL bar on the google translate button. This has always worked pretty well for me. Hope that helps!
Having an address in Italy, can you enter and leave as a resident? I don't know how the movement of people is working now, with Schengen space suppressed for covid19.
Hi José, only freedom of movement was limited with Covid within the EU and is all going to be restored by the end of the month. I am not a resident of Italy, and having a house doesn’t automatically make you one like in France. The Italians opened their border to Austria on the 3rd, but getting back into Austria may still be problematic, but hopefully not for long!
Not Useless Yet Residence for house owners in France isn't automatic, as far as I can establish. You have to apply. Tax residence is automatic if you spend more than 180 days inFrance irrespective of whether or not you have property there (owned or rented). A few lorry drivers have been caught by this I believe.
By the way the bathroom you are creating is claustrophobic. If you have 150 m2 there is plenty of space to work with. Your Italian architect should have advised you about that
Lots of space, but we have planned a few bathrooms. This one is a little en-suite bathroom for what will eventually become a guest bedroom. As the room is quite small so is the bathroom, but because it’s quite high and we have a plan to light it well, it doesn’t really feel claustrophobic at all.
Your home is STUNNING! I can see her restored and just beautiful, congratulations on Bubba and your home.
Thank you so much!
I’m too far along in my life to attempt to do what you and your family are doing, but I’m fascinated with the processes you are going through. The home you purchased is beautiful and can’t wait to see all of the touches you’ll be putting to it. I had the opportunity to drive along that area in 2018 and feel so fortunate to have had that experience! Good luck and this older lady will be cheering you on from the US!
Hi Becky, Thank you for your kind words, I hope that we will be able to breath life back into the house! Best wishes back to the US, and stay safe!
Don't do yourself down Becky. We started our French renovation 10 years ago when I was 68. Probably finish next year ( maybe).
Michael Blackmore love your spirit of adventure and your perseverance! After all, it’s more about the journeys we take than the destinations 😊 when we get to be this age we realize we’re always a work in progress! Enjoy every moment!
Becky Huddleston Have to do something!
@@katabrontes well said sir!
Falling in love with a property is VERY dangerous... But then again, you absolutely HAVE to love it!!!
Hi JH, falling in love is pretty dangerous full stop! But if only I had a say in the matter. The house chose me, I was helpless!
Congratulations on the birth of your new baby boy! This is a very exciting time for you and your girlfriend in so many, many ways! Thanks for sharing your videos.
Thank you so much Sunny! It is an exciting time, and the need to stay positive is paramount! Thank you for watching them!
Congrats on the newborn baby and what a process amongst the Covid lockdown
I want to see your home, all the nooks and crannies, over and over again. I can’t stop thinking about living in Italy. Only I’m a young 70, and alone, so I couldn’t fix anything without help which I don’t have 😒😒😒. But at least, I’d like to live there for a while. I’ve been studying the language for a year now in the hopes. For now, I’ll have to watch you have all the fun!! Linda C/ USA
Hi Linda, I'm glad you like the house! Why not give it a go, 70 is no age at all! You don't have to find something as run down as ours, but I'm sure you could manage some paint and adding your own touches to make a wonderful home! Good luck, and congratulations on learning a new language, it's hard but so worthwhile! Stay safe, greetings to the US!
We are in the prosess of buying a house in Abruzzo in the next 1-3 years. Your videos are inspirational. Looking forward to the upcoming videos on the buying prosess as well as the renovation.
Good luck! It's absolutely the right time. Thanks for the positive comments.
We are thinking about Abruzzo for a year or so then pandemic came. We have to put our travel on hold . We hear good things on that region.Thank you
My husband and I just purchased our new home in Abruzzo region!! We started the process over 6 months ago. We’re in the U.S., so we can’t travel yet. Can’t wait to head back to Italy!! Happy house searching!
Tomika, we would love to hear about your purchase. We live in SCalif. Thanks
Tomika B. Are you going to share some of your experienses om www somewhere?
Which did you decide to purchase in?
Per, Norway.
Really rooting for you. ...cant wait to see the end result........
Thanks Jackie, for the end result you'll have to be very patient!
excellent !
my family is originally from Fivizzano, the other side of the mountain basically ... most people emigrated ( we to the not so sunny Bay Area for about 20 years) Now I work in Milan but as retirement I will go back to the roots....
Hi Paolo, I know Fivizzano, it's very pretty and even closer to the sea! It has been tough times in Milan, but it is slowly getting better I hear. Good luck and thanks for watching!
(Moira Ashton) Found it, the one with the painting, lovely colours, it looks just as if you have wings, I kept wanting to ask you to "Move over so I can see it all" 😍 The photo of the house at the front looks so beautiful, it will be stunning when finished , so looking forward to watching the progress on it!! 😊
Excellent! She paints some amazing stuff, far more talented than I am.
Absolutely stunning what a beautiful house 🏠 it will look gorgeous when finished. It was our dream to do what you have done, left our run to late. we are in our seventies so we can only dream.
Hi Joyce, thank you, I fell in love with it at first sight! It might be a bit tricky to attack a full on restoration, but there are many places which just need some love, some paint and a good eye for decoration. It's never too late to fulfil a dream!
Not Useless Yet thanks for your reply only wishing you the very best, enjoy every moment living your dream. We had a trip booked for April and had to cancel because of the Corona virus, it was going to be our last overseas trip to Italy 🇮🇹 we are from Australia 🇦🇺 and the plane ✈️ journey is about 20 hours. We have wonderful memories of our last trip five years ago, three weeks in Rome, Tuscany and then a whole three weeks in Sicily wow it was out of this world, so much history and to think my parents left Sicily to migrate to Australia back in the early thirties they had a lot of courage.
Congratulations on the birth of your son! Looking forward to following you on your journey!
Hi Shannon, thank you very much!
Congratulations on the new baby! I have been thinking about moving to another country and I am very interested in what the process is and the difficulty of accomplishing this.
Wow...what an exciting year for you! Congrats on new place and baby boy...stay safe...sane.
Thank you, lets hope everything gets back to normal soon! stay safe
i know that i will go to Tuscany when the the virus is over. i love your hard work and also being a daddy.............welcome to RUclips
Thank you.
Congrats on the baby!! Wow! Good to see you back dude.
Thank you very much!
🖒 I have been watching and you have made that room so beautiful from what it was. You are doing a beautiful job and can not wait to see what you do to the entire villa.
Hi J, It will be a long process, but I'm glad you're enjoying so far!
Thanks for the update,can't wait to see further videos
There will be more soonish!
You have a marvelous outlook and it's what you want, that you know what you want it to be, now and in the near future. You are itching to get on it...."let's go!!!!
Hi Evelyn! Thank you for your kind words, as you say: Let's go!
Congratulations on the birth of your little one!
Congratulations on the new wee baby! How exciting. Cant wait to see you get back into the renos
Thank you very much, he is perfect! Not long to wait now...
That was not long to wait at all 😄
So exciting! Glad you are following your dreams.
Hi Lisa, Thank you, I am pretty excited, I think one day it will be truly wondeful!
Congratulations! Thank you for sharing your story, very useful and interesting information!
Hi Juste, I'm glad you liked it!
Thank you for sharing...so happy to follow your journey. Congrats on the baby...stay safe
Thank you! and thank you for watching!
I am watching this series of video backwards from most current to this point. What we call ass backwards. Which is fitting because that is how your project will be. I think it can be a beautiful property that fit your wants and needs. I chuckle at the patio bathroom. Oh my what have you got yourself into. The history of this property need to be preserved also. Do not throw away the papers in the trunks. It will be a great scrape book someday. It is such a shame how all the Italians have left their country and no one wants the family homes any longer. Just think of the history of that home. The events that took place in the area. I wish you the best. And congratulation on new baby. Stay safe
Hi Patti, well I'm glad you're enjoying so far, I hope the project isn't too ass backwards... I won't throw away anything that has any relevance to the house or the village! I am a bit of a nostalgic anyway! Thank you for your wishes, stay safe you too!
Subbed and closely following from St Augustine Florida USA.
Awesome! Thank you!
New subbie , Congrats to the birth of your baby boy, and I am looking forward to watching your progress , it is an amazing house with lots of little nooks and love the high ceilings. I just seen your latest video and you say your partner is a painter so is the image behind you some of her work, I do love it, also it looks like you have wings lol, Good luck to you all, xxxx Hugs Dede xxx
Hi Dede, Thank you, he's wonderful, and so is his brother! Well spotted, she paints big pictures and that is one of her's! Wings would help me fix the ceilings, but unfortunately I use a ladder, like everyone else... Thanks for watching!
@@NotUselessYet Well do tell her I love her work, totally my style, and you will get there dont worry, and hugs to Big Brother as well, xxxxxx Dede xxx
Wow! First of all, congratulations on the new baby. May he (?) bring you unknown joy. Secondly, where are you from originally? You sound as it may be my motherland, South Africa. It was such a joy to listen to you. Lastly, good luck with the renovations. I just know you will make a huge success of this.
Thank you Desire, yes he, and he's great, as is his brother. I am from London originally, so not quite South Africa! I hope the house turns out nicely, with love and patience we should be ok.
@@NotUselessYet Congrats!! How far a drive is it from you? Do you reveal the cost?
You may be interested to know the terrazzo tiles you are not so keen on in the bedroom sell at BALINEUM in the UK from £146 quid each!!! So there's alot to love!! BTW, terrazzo also work outdoors & maybe you could repurpose on your terrace.... BEST OF LUCK - BUONA FORTUNA
Hi Caro, that’s amazing, there are piles of them on every tip in northern Italy! They are already on the loggia.. anyway, I’m not going to tear them up, just cover them. Thanks for the wishes and for watching!
Hehe - "People told us not to buy it and we did it anyways". Our realtor and notaio both told us not to buy but - we did it anyways! Best decision of our lives. I think we're just down canyon from you (Bagni di Lucca). Was there until mid March, and hoping to get back soon. Just wanted to say I, and I'll follow...
Hi Clark, well exactly, why listen to the experts! Down towards Lucca is a wonderful area, I hope you can get back soon, I'm missing our house sorely!
Congratulations 🍾🎈🎉🎊 on
Thank you!!
Love the house and village but having watched your fab tour i might have layed the house out differently ,the main room ,going to be your sitting room i would have made a dining hall with an internal staircase to the two upstsirs rooms made into a bedroom ensuite .the room with basement access into a master bedroom with ensuite ,the little bedfroom with the built ensuite and the room leading onto the pillared balcony as a sitting room ,
Hi Stephen, I see what you mean, interesting! The 2 room upstairs are above what you would make the sitting room and there is a big structural wall between your dining hall and that room, so the staircase would have to go up from your living room. The real problem is that the rooms upstairs are both very small and the one to the side is pretty low too, so putting in even a spiral staircase would make the useable space tiny. I'm still pondering... I really like the idea of a bedroom that goes out onto the loggia. Nothing is written in stone yet, so I'll bear your thoughts in mind! Thanks for watching!
Congratulations on your baby
Thank you!
The Lunigiana is a beautiful area.
Hi Caro, yes it is, and still underrated and often undisturbed!
Pontremoli was always our half way point to my in laws who live near Lucca in Tuscany. I used to live in Lucca, now I'm in the North. You are close enough to lovely bays nearby you at Leirici. P. S. its a NOTAIO in Italian. Pronunciation of your region LOONEY JANNA
Hi Donna, Lucca and Lerici are very pretty! I am trying so very hard to learn Italian, but the accent and pronunciation will take some time yet! Thanks!
@@NotUselessYet it's hard.. But you'll get there LOONEY JANNA 😂
Beautiful presentation, thank you! Could you kindly communicate the web page you recommended for finding a place in Italy?
Hi Mirella, thank you for watching! The place I started was a website called www.casa.it it is easily the biggest and easiest to use. If you're looking near to where we are, you could do worse than looking up Davide at immobilnova in Pontremoli immobiliareimmobilnova.it/
Enjoyed
Thanks!
Congratulations on to your new baby, I am sure he/she will love growing up in Italy, I sure did. (80-86)
I know this is an odd question, as a single male, very resourceful, and highly skilled, do you feel $100.000 US could get me a place, and be enough to survive for a while until I figure life in Italy out. I lived in Gaeta in the 80s and want to return soon.
Hi Metal, we're not moving full time to Italy, I have a job in Austria, but the kids will be spending a lot of time here, and will grow up sort of Guinadese.
I think 100k could absolutely get you going in Italy, with a house and everything, but it all depends on where, obviously some parts are more expensive than others. I am also not sure how health insurance works for non EU citizens, we can travel around and are insured everywhere...
Just a question here but why did you move from France? Looks really nice there
casa.it does not provide an english translation. Is there a workaround for those of us who are less techie
Thanks for the videos
The value of a home cannot be counted in pounds shillings and pence. It's going to be wonderful for your children to spend weekends there.
Question: did you get an inspector to check on the walls, roof, termites, etc?? 🙏🌸
Hi Blueberry, no we didn’t have it surveyed, I climbed through the eaves and asked the estate agent who confirmed that due to the altitude and cold winters termites aren’t so prevalent, I couldn’t see any of the telltale oval holes I know from when I lived in France, so fingers crossed.... I think if I probably would do it if we were to go through the process again.
Congratulations on your new baby! Will you have enough bedrooms?
Hi Amy, Thank you! For now we will all share one tiny room, but little by little we will make it so that everyone gets a room!
Is there a way to view casa.it in English?
Hi OJW, well the easiest is probably to use Chrome as a browser and once the page has loaded to click on the right hand side of the URL bar on the google translate button. This has always worked pretty well for me. Hope that helps!
What is the name of the village? I'm curious about the history.
Hi Dave, the village is called Guinadi, and its part of Pontremoli.
@@NotUselessYet Thank you! What a lovely village!
Having an address in Italy, can you enter and leave as a resident? I don't know how the movement of people is working now, with Schengen space suppressed for covid19.
Hi José, only freedom of movement was limited with Covid within the EU and is all going to be restored by the end of the month. I am not a resident of Italy, and having a house doesn’t automatically make you one like in France. The Italians opened their border to Austria on the 3rd, but getting back into Austria may still be problematic, but hopefully not for long!
@@NotUselessYet European integration has still a long way to go. Oh, and all the best for the baby, the mother and the father. (Y)
Thank you José! Where are you based?
@@NotUselessYet Portugal, in Arouca, a rural municipality where homes can be found reasonably priced, not as cheap as Italy.
Not Useless Yet Residence for house owners in France isn't automatic, as far as I can establish. You have to apply. Tax residence is automatic if you spend more than 180 days inFrance irrespective of whether or not you have property there (owned or rented). A few lorry drivers have been caught by this I believe.
By the way the bathroom you are creating is claustrophobic. If you have 150 m2 there is plenty of space to work with. Your Italian architect should have advised you about that
Lots of space, but we have planned a few bathrooms. This one is a little en-suite bathroom for what will eventually become a guest bedroom. As the room is quite small so is the bathroom, but because it’s quite high and we have a plan to light it well, it doesn’t really feel claustrophobic at all.
Is this Guinadi?
Hi Paul, this is Guinadi!
30 minute vlogs are good.
Glad you like them!
This is crazy. We are going to be neighbors. Mine is 9 km from pontremoli. Congrats on the baby. Boy or girl?
That’s cool, maybe one day we can have a beer and discuss our projects! Thanks, it’s a boy.
💕
Thank you!
👍👍♥️
(When speaking directly to us, you need to look into the camera and not at the screen.)
Hi Eric, I know, I know... I’ll get the hang of this eventually! Sorry, I’m sure it’s annoying!
@@NotUselessYet LOL. Not annoying. It's just "Whom are you talking to?"
Also, to those of us who've been to Italy, this video is WAY too long. The reason why anyone would buy a dream home in Italy is because: It's Italy.
Please look at the camera
Hi Max, sorry! I'm filming on my iphone so it's really tempting to look at the screen, but I'll try and do better in the future!
The 👶 baby. Good lack on you house 🏡.🍀🌈🇵🇱🇺🇸
I will need it!
Perhaps you might sketch out a script before filming your blog instead of a random disjointed stream of unconsciousness
Good Idea Walter!