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Large Farmhouse with Pool & 700 Olive Trees near Chianni
€770,000
$839,300
€
$
Chianni, Tuscany
14
7
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Ref #: V4137-X
Pescaglia, TuscanyRef #: V4137-X
ITALY, TUSCANY, LUCCA, PESCAGLIA
VIRTUAL TOUR (NB THE POOL HAS BEEN RENEWED SINCE THE VIDEO WAS TAKEN, SEE PHOTOS BELOW):
INDIVIDUAL VIRTUAL TOURS OF THE FOUR HOUSES
SMALL ESTATE OF FOUR RESTORED HOMES
Including One Luxury Home and Three Charming Holiday Cottages
A hamlet of an historic farmhouse and three cottages situated in a beautiful, wooded valley in the hills above Lucca, at the start of the Garfagnana National Park. The houses date from the mid 1700s and have many original features, including exposed stone walls and original ceilings with chestnut beams and cotto tiles. The property is set in three and a half hectares of pine and chestnut wood, with over 100 abundant olive trees and other fruit trees, with beautiful views over the valley. The small swimming pool and its sun terrace seem to hover over the trees – ideal for lounging in the Tuscan sunshine.
CASA GRANDE
(240 square metres)
Originally built in 1743, the substantial farmhouse was completely restored in 2004. Previous to this the house had no floors, doors or windows. As far as possible, the original beams were restored and the restoration work completed with new chestnut beams and handmade terracotta tiles in the traditional manner. A new, handmade wrought iron and chestnut staircase was added. The work was completed with handmade, chestnut windows and doors.
On the ground floor are the kitchen, dining room and utility / shower room. The large, eat-in kitchen has a SMEG cooking range, as well as lower kitchen units in dark grey and the upper units in white, complementing the original stone walls. Large wrought iron and glass doors exit to the rear terraces and provide light into the kitchen. The dining room has a high ceiling with chestnut beams and terracotta tiles. Atmosphere is created by the original stone walls and a large rock that is part of the foundation of the house. The large utility room has a shower, WC and bidet, with plenty of room for washing and drying machines.
A sweeping iron and chestnut staircase leads to the first floor, which at present is arranged as a suite of three sitting rooms, providing a wonderful entertaining space. Each of the rooms has ceilings of chestnut beams and terracotta tiles, as well as original shelving alcoves built into the wall. The Sitting Room has a large, working fireplace and double doors leading to the marble paved courtyard. The Summer Room, open to the staircase, has double aspect views across the valley, making it light and airy in the summer. The Winter Room has another large fireplace and an iron wood burning stove. A door leads from this room onto a small, raised terrace that gives wonderful views across the valley.
The staircase continues to the third floor, which at present is arranged as two bedrooms and a large bathroom. The Master Bedroom is very large, with double aspect windows and a mass of original beams. The Guest Bedroom also has double aspect windows and original beams.
The large Bathroom has been designed to the highest standards. It is tiled in travertine stone and has a large shower, well over two metres high. There is also a ‘slipper’ bath with claw feet, which sits at an angle to the window, allowing a wonderful view up the valley from the bath. There is also a WC and bidet from Pozzi Ginori, in white china.
Beneath the farmhouse is a small laundry room for use by guests in the three cottages. This has separate, independent access from the farmhouse.
LA ROCCIA
(90 square metres)
La Roccia is situated across the marble courtyard. It is named after the massive boulder built into the kitchen that forms the foundation of the house. The main windows have charming, external wooden shutters. Downstairs, this traditional two-storey farmhouse has a large eat-in kitchen, which has chestnut cupboards, marble worktops and a dishwasher. The ceiling is original with chestnut beams and terracotta tiles. There is an original, working fireplace in the kitchen. On the ground floor there is also a double bedroom and a bathroom with a shower, sink, WC and bidet.
Up the wrought iron staircase, you’ll find a two zone, double width sitting room, a double bedroom and a bathroom with a large, walk-in shower. There is currently a sofabed in the first half of the sitting room. This area could easily be made into a third bedroom with the addition of a simple wall. There is an open fireplace in the sitting room, which is dreamlike in the autumn and winter. The house overlooks the valley and has two private, outside terraces.
LA STALLA
(60 square metres)
La Stalla, formerly the old stable dating from 1743, is a two storey cottage. The main windows have charming, external wooden shutters. La Stalla has a pretty sitting room with a wood burning stove and a kitchen downstairs, and one double bedroom and a bathroom with shower upstairs. The private, outside terrace has extensive views over the valley. The cottage is about fifty metres from the other houses and overlooks – but isn’t overlooked by – the swimming pool.
IL FORNO
(60 square metres)
Il Forno is the second of the smaller two storey cottages. The main windows have charming, external wooden shutters. Il Forno was originally the old bakehouse and still has the original, full size pizza oven in the sitting room. It has its sitting room and kitchen on the top floor, and a double bedroom and a shower room on the ground floor. The bedroom has double doors onto the private, outside terrace, which will allow you to enjoy extensive views over the valley from your bed.
The Swimming Pool
The pool measures 8 metres by 4 metres and seems to hang above the trees, giving wonderful views across the valley. The whole area was remodelled in stunning limestone paving in 2023.
The Entrance
The property is accessed via a long concrete drive. At the end of this is a wall with large wrought iron gates. Next to the gates is shrine dating from the 1740s, which is also owned by the property. This has an original, marble bas-relief of the Lucca’s patron saint, Santa Zita, who was born in this comune of Pescaglia.
Services
The property is connected to mains water, which is metered, and mains electricity. There are two gas tanks, one of 1,500 litres and the other of 1,000 litres. These are filled twice a year by tanker. All of the buildings have full independent gas central heating. The large house is heated by a new euro 10,000 Thermorossi furnace, which burns wood. It is far more economical to heat such a large house in this way, although the system can be switched to gas if necessary.
Each of the houses has a new, gas combination boiler. There is an annual service contract with local, registered technician.
Other information
The property is close to Celle dei Puccini, one time home of the Puccini family, and the beautiful hill village of Pescaglia, perched at the top of a steep hillside. Bordered by the forested Appenines to the east and the Apuan Alps to the west, the Garfagnana area is one of alpine meadows, lush hills, rivers and gorges, making it ideal for walkers and hikers.
The Medieval and Renaissance glories of the walled city of Lucca are only 18 kilometres away, while Pisa and Florence are close enough for day trips. The glamorous beach resorts of Viareggio, Marina di Pietrasanta and Forte dei Marmi are only a short, but stunning drive across the Apuan Alps. Nearby, Barga and Torre del Lago have wonderful music and opera festivals throughout the summer.
Nearby there are two very warm and welcoming, family owned restaurants, ‘Molin della Volpe’, a pleasant ten minute walk away, and ‘La Fonte’ in Trebbio, a ten minute drive away.
Distances:
Lucca 18km
Borgo a Mozzano 8km
Bagni di Lucca 15km
Barga 20km
Pisa (nearest airport) 38km
sea 32km
Florence 88km
skiing (Abetone) 60km
View all our properties on our website casatuscany.com
Address: Pescaglia, Tuscany
Location type: Rural
Condition: Restored
Bedrooms: 6
Bathrooms: 6
Property size: 450+ sqm
Land size: 3.5 hectares
A notary is a qualified lawyer who is employed by the Italian government. When you are buying Italian property, it is a notary who conducts the legal transfer of a property from vendor to buyer, and prepares the deed of sale, checks there are no charges on the property, title issues and with the assistance of a technician such as a geometra or architect, checks the property conforms to all planning issues.
It is always the buyer and not the vendor who pays the purchase taxes due and who pays the notary fees also. This means that it is up to the buyer which notary is used. In practice it is usually one of the local notaries and we can recommend which one to use and which one is cheapest, as notary prices do vary.
We provide a detailed list of all fees and taxes (including the notary’s quote) before you sign any contracts.
Translator – if you do not speak fluent, enough to understand detailed legal contracts, you will need to have a translator at the notary deed. Your agent or the notary will usually arrange this so you don’t need to worry about it. The cost varies but is often 200-300 euros. This can sometimes be shared with the vendor if they are also non fluent in Italian.
This depends firstly on two things.
A. Are you buying as a resident or a non resident?
B. Are you buying from private individuals or from a company?
If you are buying from private individuals, then the taxes you pay are based on the cadastral value – a nominal value which each property has and which depends on its size, location, standard etc – nothing to do with the market value.
Example 1:
House price agreed €100,000.
Property belongs to private sellers.
Cadastral value of the property €32,000.
Let’s say you intend buying the house as a non resident (.ie. you do not intend moving to Italy permanently and applying for residency).
Taxes payable are 9% on cadastral value €32,000 so €2,880 plus a few smaller fixed taxes.
Or, if you intend moving to live in the house permanently, applying for Italian residency, then as long as you don’t already own another property in Italy;
Taxes payable are 2% on cadastral value €32,000 so €640 plus a few smaller fixed taxes. A minimum figure may be payable.
Please note, you could buy the house as a resident and pay the lower rate of tax if you intend moving there and obtaining residency within the next 18 months. Don’t be tempted to do this unless you are definitely sure you will become a resident. If you then do not, you need to pay the difference in taxes plus a penalty of around 30%.
If there is substantial land (not just a garden) with the property, then 15% is payable on the value attributed to the land, which can be quite low, eg a value of €15,000 could be attributed to the land so 15% of 15,000 = €2,250 would be the tax on the land.
Example 2:
House price €100,000
Property is being sold by a company
Cadastral value of the property is €32,000
Let’s say you intend buying the house as a non resident (i.e. you do not intend moving to Italy permanently and applying for residency).
Taxes payable are 10% VAT on full market price €100,000 so €10,000 plus a few smaller fixed taxes.
Or, if you intend moving to live in the house permanently, applying for Italian residency, then as long as you don’t already own another property in Italy,
Taxes payable are 4% VAT on €100,000 so €4,000 plus a few smaller fixed taxes.
Once we know
– which house you want to buy, its cadastral value and who owns it (company/individual)
– whether you intend to buy as a resident/non resident and if it’s your first property in Italy
only then can we ask the notary to provide a quote for the precise taxes payable.
Other circumstances
Then of course there are other scenarios.
If the value of the property you want to buy is very low (eg €50,000) then purchase costs are likely to be a higher percentage as there are set minimums to pay for all fees and taxes. So on a €50,000 house, you are likely to pay 12-15% instead of 10% (non resident).
You might want to buy a property (being sold by private individuals) with your company. Taxes are considerably higher in this case, as they would be 9% on the sale price (not on the cadastral value). So it’s cheaper to buy a privately owned property as a private individual, not as a company.
But, in the case of a country property which is a farm/winery/agriturismo, these are often owned by a farming company (azienda agricola) , which has considerable tax advantages as you can buy the farm and pay just 0-1% (depending on the circumstances) on the purchase price in tax.
Taxes would be different for a commercial purchase, eg if your company is buying an Italian company (ie a farm or other company). Buying the shares of a company usually meets zero taxes, just a few fixed fees, and notary and accountancy fees.
The above is a guide, and once you have found a property you are interested in buying, we can obtain a notary quote for you, with a full breakdown of the taxes and fees due.
Notary fees – approx 1-2%, more for a lower priced property due to some fixed taxes.
Agency fees – in Italy both buyer and seller pay the agent. These are payable to the Italian agent (one of our partners) you view the house with at compromesso (preliminary contract) stage and for each party are usually 3% plus VAT. VAT is 22% in Italy. Minimums apply. Nothing is payable to Casa Tuscany so you will not pay double the fees, you will just have double the assistance!
Compromesso registration fees – approx €380 plus a part payment of taxes which is deducted from the total taxes due at completion.
Translator for the deed signing at the notary’s office. Required if you do not speak Italian well enough to understand legal deeds. Approx cost €250 – €350 depending on the notary.
Technical report for the notary. Checks all the planning issues of the property, making sure it matches the official plans, no works have been carried out without permission, gathers all previous permits, checks the house is sellable and not illegal in any way. Carried out by a geometra, architect or engineer and costs vary considerably, a minimum of €761 including VAT/ Please note this report is NOT a structural survey, that is an optional additional report you may wish to instruct.
Local council tax – IMU (formerly ICI) – payable only by non residents. This needs to be paid twice a year at the post office – no bill is sent. Most people use a local accountant or property manager to calculate it.
Refuse tax (TARI)
In some areas, mountain community tax.
If you buy a property which is part of a condominium, e.g. with shared pool and grounds, lighting etc, then there will be annual condominium fees to pay which usually range from about €200 to €1000/year unless it is a particularly luxurious property with many amenities in which case costs could be higher.
Utilities
You don’t really need an Italian bank account for buying a property in Italy any more as money is usually sent by bank transfer, although some notaries insist the funds are sent from an Italian account set up by you.
You could of course open an account to handle bills but bear in mind that some utilities companies refuse to arrange direct debits for non resident accounts, and some bills cannot be paid by direct debit.
You could always pay your bills online or if you have a property manager then send them the funds for settling all the bills.
If you do intend opening an Italian bank account, bear in mind that Italian bank charges are high . Usually there is a monthly fee to pay, plus charges for receiving money, paying bills, sending statements, etc etc.
