International Services – Italy

We help Americans find their Italian Dream!

Greenstone Properties’ owners have a long association with Italy. Clint and Katerina met in Milano, where they lived and worked for six years. Clint worked for Vodafone Italy and, as its Chief Technology Officer, was responsible for planning and constructing Vodafone’s nationwide, mobile telecommunications network. This involved a lot of travel throughout the country since the network license requirement was 98% geographic coverage.

Since returning to live in the US, Clint and Katya have routinely vacationed in Italy. They have ridden bicycles extensively through Tuscany and Umbria and love the many famous Hill-towns and Cities.  In 2021, after a lot of traveling and searching, Clint and Katya bought and renovated their own dream home in Northern Tuscany, near Liguria and close to the coast. They now live there part-time each year, where they love to host their Italian friends as well as visiting American friends.

https://www.lunigianaworld.it/en/

Italy: The right property, the right region, at the right price.

Clint & Katya’s Experience in Italy

Katya and I were well versed with life in Italy, having lived there six years, but it still took us months to find the perfect place, suited for our needs as a vacation home and eventually as part of our retirement plan. One-month on-line sorting through regional information and real estate websites and one-month in Italy physically touring our chosen areas and seeing selected properties. One of the things about Italy that tends to complicate this process is the fact that there are so many beautiful areas in the country! So the first thing is- decide which area you would like to live in! Italy is divided into 20 regions and they all have their own regional histories, specialty cuisine, particular cities and geographic landscapes. One has to decide what type of region they prefer and search from there. For us, it was difficult in the beginning. We both lived in Milano when we were working in Italy and therefore spent a lot of time in the northern regions, skiing in Aosta, or visiting Lago di Garda to mountain bike and windsurf, in Veneto and Trentino- Alto Adige. But living in Colorado, we felt we had the mountain areas covered.

We also love the sea and had spent time in Liguria’s resorts. In addition, Tuscany’s perfect rolling agricultural regions were one of our favorites. This region and surrounding areas were regions we had bicycled on vacations. We had also visited Rome in Lazio and Naples and the Amalfi Coast in Campania as well as the “heel of the boot” in beautiful Puglia. Finally, we had toured and ridden Sicilia and also loved its beauty and diversity. After much reflection we decided on the Mediterranean Sea vs the Adriatic, much more familiar to us, and central Italy, as the best choice for landscape and climate while maintaining access to both Milano and Rome airports. An additional criterion was access to the coast. This quickly narrowed our search to Tuscany, and Umbria, as well as Liguria. From there we spent weeks touring the small cities and famous hill-towns, of which there are no shortage. In Tuscany, Lucca, Frienze, San Gimignano, Siena, Montalcino, Montepulciano, and Cortona were all candidates. Further south in Umbria, we looked at Passignano on Lago Trasimeno, Perugia, Assisi, Spello, Bevagna, Montefalco, Todi, and finally Orvieto. Such beautiful places, one and all!

But after weeks of touring, we came to a conclusion- we needed to be closer to the Mediterranean. We therefore shifted back north and explored from Viareggio, through Lerici and Cinque Terre, to Levanto and beyond. Incredible storybook coasts with UNESCO World Heritage designation. However, in doing so we discovered the area of Northern-most Tuscany called Lunigiana, also informally referred to as Land of 100 Castles. This lush green area sits just North of the famous Carrara marble mines and includes the foothills of the Appennino National Park. In a short time we fell in love with this area. It was 30 minutes from the coast but real estate prices were much less expensive, often less than half. If you ride bicycle, the network of small roads throughout the hills provided magical rides through small villages with almost no traffic. The historic, small cities of the area were friendly, had great restaurants and specialized in truffles, wild boar, chestnut honey and many other agricultural products. We decided that this was the place for us. We ultimately chose a single-level, Mediterranean style Villa, on a plateau just above the town of Bagnone, population roughly 1,000. It features 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, tall cathedral ceilings, a large garden with outside dining and a small central courtyard with fountain. The property is surrounded by hills, forests and an award winning agri-turismo restaurant next door,  Locanda Fermento, https://www.locandafermento.it/en/index If this property was in Boulder or the surrounding County we could not have afforded it. The real estate prices, especially in many rural areas of Italy are much more reasonable and make buying a second home in Italy all that much more attainable.

This is our story. It was a marvelous journey for us, but somewhat convoluted none the less. And it took us months. Not everyone has the time or the inclination to devote this much effort to finding their place in a foreign country. That’s where we can provide assistance. We’d love to help you with your search for your dream home!

The Completed Italian Villa

From the Alps to Sicily – Some of Our Favorite Photos