Article 3

Holiday villa with private pool at Tuscan Paradise. An historic private 4 bedroom (all en-suite)18C farmhouse with private pool in Tuscany overlooking an amazing lake sleeping 8. Additional studio for a further 5 not let independently to ensure complete privacy.

tuscany, tuscany holiday private villa, tuscany holiday private villas, tuscany holiday villa, tuscany holiday villa with pool, tuscany holiday villas, tuscany holiday villas with pool, tuscany italy, tuscany villa, tuscany villa holiday, tuscany villas, tuscany holiday villas, holiday villa tuscany, holiday villa tuscany italy, holiday villa in tuscany, holiday villa in tuscany italy, holiday villa rental in tuscany, holiday villas tuscany, holiday villas tuscany italy, holiday villas for rent in tuscany, holiday villas in tuscany, holiday villas in tuscany italy, holiday villas with pool in tuscany, luxury villa in tuscany, luxury villas in tuscany, private holiday villa in tuscany, private holiday villas tuscany, private villa in tuscany, private villas in tuscany, villa in tuscany, villa rental tuscany, villa rental in tuscany, villa to rent tuscany, villa to rent in tuscany, villas for rent in tuscany, villas in tuscany, villas in tuscany italy, villas to rent tuscany, villas to rent in Tuscany, accommodation tuscany:

Our attempts to buy the buildings were not going well. We were not sure if this beautiful property in an outstanding location would ever be ours. Costs had amounted to much more than we had anticipated. After numerous negotiations with people in England and with our vendors through their agent, we all agreed the compromesso should be cancelled and our deposit returned. Once again our search was on.

With our home in Kent looking like a self store warehouse full of boxes, and only two weeks until our scheduled move from England, we needed to make an unexpected return trip to Italy to sort out the paperwork. This gave us the opportunity to visit our rental accommodation in Anghiari and check on any last minute requirements and finalise our plans for the kitchen which we will have to install ourselves on arrival. In Italy it is rare to find a house where the kitchen remains. When people vacate a house they take everything, including the kitchen sink! Luckily for us, the bathrooms remained intact.

We marked out the kitchen units on the floor with white tape, enabling the plumber to see exactly where he needed to bring the water. Services needed re-routing as we had decided to have our kitchen in another, larger room of the house. Using our pigeon Italian, we also managed to put a deposit on a range cooker which we hoped would be delivered the week we arrived. It seemed we could pay the balance at our leisure. The Italians are such trusting people, unless you are purchasing a property that is. A few other things needed to be sorted including arranging installation of a gas meter and new boiler, as the existing one seemed to date from the iron age and investigating a nasty smell of damp in one bedroom, obviously stemming from a problem on the roof. The telephone had already been connected for us. We also asked if we could remove all curtains and the flock wallpaper in the proposed kitchen…. The whole property was suspended in a 1970’s time warp.

Since the demise of our plans for the previous property, we found ourselves making enquiries yet again about the original property we had been interested in a year earlier situated on a lake. It was on the market again for the same price, but this time - since the owner found out we were still interested - the amount of land being offered hand shrunk to a miniscule plot no bigger than a “postage stamp”. These negotiations were not going to be easy as we were told we also had to use the vendor’s own geometra to secure the deal. Disillusioned, our estate agent had an idea on a couple of other possibilities which he showed us from the outside in semi darkness. Too large we thought; lots of work, and renovation costs would be too high. For a moment out there in the darkness by those neglected ruins Robert thought he had lost his car keys, but after some moments of panic, discovered he was holding them. Were we just tired, or were we being driven insane by the search for our Tuscan Paradise? It was time to return to our much loved home from home, Alessia’s “Locanda Fiorentino” in Sansepolcro.