Guardia Sanframondi: Part 4 - Houses!

Ok, Good, So What is Your Budget?

Part 1 - Getting There
Part 2 - Around Town
Part 3 - Good Eats!

During our visit to Guardia Sanframondi we looked at several houses ranging in price from €6,000 to €37,000. Of the group, only the €6,000 house required a full restoration - all the others were livable or nearly so, needing only a thorough cleaning and in a couple cases updated electrical wiring.



House #1

House #1 - Third Floor Center

So here we go! House #1 is a 3rd floor flat on the square opposite Chiesa di San Rocco. Asking Price €27,000.

Chiesa di San Rocco

As you can see from the pictures, it's in pretty darn good shape. There are water stains on the old wall paper  in the front room (sorry, I farked the picture twice) reportedly from condensation - not too surprising in an apartment that's been closed up for several years. We'd peel the wall paper and paint anyway.

It's currently divided into four rooms which could be recombined into two quite large ones. There's a little balcony and an attic that could be converted into a really nice terrace. And there are neat old floor tiles.

House #1 View

It needs a decent amount of work including updated electricity and a full bathroom. It's in a great location and the views are wonderful.

House #1 would have been at the top of our list but for the fact that it's on the third floor - the stairs were just too much for our creaky American knees.

House #2

The View!

Main Entrance

Another Entrance

First Kitchen & Fireplace

Cantina #1 - No Spiders!

House #2 was way over budget at (if I remember correctly) €37,000. But it was spectacular. It is perfectly livable (with the addition of a new kitchen as is typical). It has modern electricity and plumbing. It's actually two family apartments combined into one quirky home. It has two big cantinas. One's the normal space for storing random junk but the other is equipped with plumbing and electricity and is large enough to create a little studio apartment (which would be illegal, unfortunately).

House #3

House #3 €25,000. Bingo! Completely renovated and furnished, with a real modern kitchen, a great location adjacent to the old convent (which is being transformed into a luxury spa), nice views, and a wonderful family across the via Costarella. It has a large cantina that could easily be converted into a garage for an Italian sized car. If we'd had €25,000 to spend we would have closed on this one immediately.

Standing in the Kitchen door - Bath on the left

Oh Yeah! A Modern Kitchen!

The Old Convent & Vineyard

Pink Bedroom

Alley and Cantina Entrances

House # 4

Now that's a Front Door

House #4 €20,000 and right next door to #3. We felt it was a bit better laid out for American tastes than #3, but it also needs a good deal of work. The plumbing appears solid (but could use a larger capacity water heater) with a nice bathroom but the electricity, while recent, would need upgrading for our lifestyle.

Ground Floor Front Room

Ground Floor Back Room

Full Bath with a Real Bathtub! & More Pink

Upper Level - Fireplace and Wood Oven

Upper Level Bedroom

It's a little odd to have the kitchen on the second floor but in many cases the ground floor of these old houses was meant for animals or storage so it's understandable. The big selling point for us is the kitchen. It's plenty big, with enough room for American style appliances and it has a wood oven for bread making.

We actually explored the possibility of buying #4. The owner (very reasonably) wanted about 35% up front so we stuck with our original plan for the trip - scope out the town and what's available, then come back with money this time next year.

House #5

House #5 is the €6,000 mini-casa. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures for this one but I'll try to describe it. It consists of three small, close to square, rooms. On the ground floor is a cantina (full of spiders) that could finished and connected to the two upper rooms. There's a little terrace in front of the door and a garden that while technically not part of the house has been used by the present owner for years.

The first and second floor rooms are connected by an internal stairway and there's a little balcony off the upper level. While it's not a ruin, this little place needs everything and it's small - maybe 30 sq. meters total. It could be a nice hide-away for a writer or other artist with the time and/or money to fix it up.

Some Thoughts

First! Don't bug Clare about these places. She's an artist, not a real estate agent. She might be able to help you but not for free. If you're staying at the ArtHouse you must work that stuff out in advance with her.

There's lots of renovation going on in Guardia and it's easy to get the feeling that all the good places will be gone if you don't act quickly. While some of the really spectacular places have been snapped up, there are still plenty of places with "Vendesi" signs stuck to their doors.

Plan to pay cash but know that payment plans can be worked out with the owner of your chosen house. Each deal is different so there's no point in going into detail except that it seems much more flexible than buying a home here in the US.

What We're Going To Do Next

Now that we have a better idea of what's available we're staying in touch with a couple of folks Clare hooked us up with and we'll be touching base with some of the other Americans who've bought into Guardia. We probably won't make another trip until this time next year (when we'll have a nice pile of money saved up). Unless...