Other Fronts
Do we need a summary here? I think so…
A) I just couldn’t do it anymore. And, by the way, I do use the word just a lot. Sorry. However, if there was ever a moment to insist upon its use, it is in the first sentence. Remember: forgiveness is a Christian Virtue. I was desperate. A recalcitrant cowboy gardener delayed Important Spring gardening projects. An absolute non-communicator. An interminable infrastructure project was completed four months late and way over budget. Thankfully, the builder was a prompt and consistent communicator. IT fellow. Of course, he would be. Lugging groceries, You’s latest statuary interests, and a couple of tables up…
and in some instances, down Il Poggiolo’s innumerable ramps & stairs. Threatened invasions of overnight guests to our Summer parties. THE HEAT!!!
B) Decided it was time to downsize. A spiritual and physical need to relocate to a simpler dimora in or near Italian Civilisation. Sarzana would work. By the way, dimora means abode in Italian.
C) Consulted with our habitual real-estate agent. Convenient though he was and that I had succumbed to my typical laziness in calling upon him in the first place to list Il Poggiolo, he put me in such a state: I felt threatened by a past association and now his, menaced to maintain Il Poggiolo’s house & garden in Tip-Top-Form for a video I ddi not want, and I was irritated NO END by the man’s total inability to communicate, ie like, Hey! PICK UP THE F**KING PHONE!!!, when I called. Option A- to return my call the same day.
D) I fired the real-estate agent… graced euphoria.
There. For the time being.
Now, let’s back up… once again.
Possibly as a distraction from the above-listed controversies, irritations, other, and in the sincere hope of fostering enthusiasm for a successful search to find an acceptable and alternative dimora, I discovered that I was scared out of my mind.
I initiated The Hunt by getting into my newly purchased and mildly retro- Black MG Hybrid+ 3 automobile and drove… no, that’s not right. Not at all. First, I pulled out my Macbook Air laptop… an expensive piece of s**t, but how can I defend myself? I’ve been caught by Apple. I guess there’s worse in the World. I will mention NO NAMES… and cruised the following gutter global Italian real-estate websites for candidates; casa.it, idealista.it, immobiliare.it, and a few others of lesser market domination. A couple of comments now. They are important to the story…
these web-sites exhibit an astounding array of places… hard to call them properties because of the glaring lack of quality, interest or, charm!!!… ones you would never in a million-billion centuries think to buy, much less to stop and consider the listing’s photos. But, you get caught… always… in the hope of finding blah-blah-blah.
Putting the announcement aesthetics aside, the asking prices were…? Well, they what were they…? Mind-boggling. One comes to mind:
an abandoned two-story stone shack haphazardly with mildew covering the once-upon-a-time white stucco, of about 100 square meters, which is near + or - a 1000 square feet, benignly squatting in an over-grown hill-side olive grove… now don’t get excited, please. Most of the olive trees were dead and larvae-infested hulks… with perhaps a minuscule view of the Mediterranean Sea 20 kilometers in the distance for the gobsmacking price of €1200000. Do we need commas? €1,200,000. I bet with that quote, the owners thought some enterprising person might buy the place to put up stucco-encased Italian row houses… 3-4 per terrace… and with garages. No, thanks.
On a more optimistic note, I found a couple of interesting possibilities. They both provoked obsession. It was difficult enough with the current stress already in play. I am still not over…
a renovated ex-chapel near Pietrasanta… Marble HQ. No surprise: the Catholic Church is the largest property owner in Italy. Well, besides the Ferragomo Family. I guess, the church has Liquidation Sales.
I liked the idea of the ex-chapel. Reality entered the picture once I had paid a visit. Love though is eternal.
The ex-chapel was once attached to a smallish aristocratic villa in the fertile agricultural area… read: once-upon-a-time swamp… south of Marble HQ and its passing N-S train tracks to & from Rome & Milan. Remember: major train lines end up at either Roma-Termini or, Milano Centrale. The villa is now a somewhat shoddy apartment house. A quadrated garden separates it from the ex-chapel. The grounds have been ignored for quite some time by the looks of the carpet of leaves under-foot. Yet today, the ex-chapel’s owners/occupants do still have the Right of Use. Italy is littered with this notion and for good purpose too. A Right of Passage existed at Il Poggiolo. You & I hypothesized that there was a need for a short-cut to waltz cows from the stalls up at the Borgo Castello down to Codiponte’s piazzetta. We eliminated it on our deed. Lawyers can be helpful. Another Right we did not get rid of… we couldn’t have even if we had wanted to… is for locals to collect fruit fallen on the ground. A kind & humane gesture to ameliorate poverty, I was told. The custom still holds today. However, no-one would dare now. We have dogs! Before, there was a little lady, Emma, a lovely person, who loved persimmons. She always politely asked us if she could come to take what was on the ground. No way! We’ll get a ladder and pick the best ones Right off the Tree for you! Her smile was our Happy Reward. Did you know persimmons are rich in Vitamin C? During WWII, one persimmon was worth six eggs. Quite an exchange rate.
A Polish artist, Maria Papa, bought the deconsecrated chapel. I don’t know when. Perhaps, back in the late 70’s, or early 80’s. She renovated it to be her home when working in Pietrasanta. It is not big. The spaces are tight. Perfect for one person, as demonstrated by the micro-cucina. A nest to nest in. The ground floor is entered through French doors after crossing a gravel courtyard. High green privacy walls all around. The main space is a sitting & dining combo, the latter up a step since it was once the altar. The upstairs is reached by one of those homicidal circular staircases, yet it is spacious enough for two Bedrooms & Bathrooms and a large storage closet. It's a change-of-season accommodation. Very Italian. A small balcony serves as the resting place for mops and drying stands. Southern exposure. Plenty of sunshine.
The real-estate agent was a gentlewoman. Polite, friendly, and informative. She brought me up-to-date on why the ex-chapel was up For Sale. A prosperous couple of dentists had bought it as an investment and, as an eventual home for their daughter, who lives and works as an architect in Sardegna. Nice life. She has no interest in residing in a marble & Travertine lined ex-chapel, though recently renovated by her parents just for her. Children. Such ingrates. This latest installment, however, is tinged with the antiseptic look of motel-itis… clean & spiffy, mostly evident in the bathrooms (not shown) and in the Kitchen. So much marble.
Also, the daughter might not have gotten a kick-out of the mixed-use neighborhood. A quarter of small row houses, blocks of stores, factories & warehouses, several offices, open farms, villas of one sort or, another, spiffy suburban homes. Strict zoning doesn’t, can’t exist here. How could it? Someone builds a factory and plops his home on top of it? Or, an apartment-house is built with one apartment for owner, who rents-out the others apartments, while on the Ground Floor, there are shops, and/or offices, for additional income. And, so forth and so onwards to warehouses and factory spaces filling the urban gaps. Towns and cities grow organically here in Italy. As Pietrasanta expanded, thanks to its international acclaim of the area’s marble quaries, factories and their talented work-force… the ex-chapel’s neighborhood became an interesting conglomeration. To me, that is. I loved it! I could see myself living there. I could not see myself living in what was a cottage on the smallish side with an encompassing boy-friend and two spoiled Weimaraner. I shared the photos below with You. His reaction? Thought the chapel was cozy but, too pat. He said there didn’t seem the possibility of investing our shared personalities, our penchant for a certain type of decor or space, our manner of living, into the little abode. He ended by remarking it plainly looked like a motel room, a set environment to briefly stay in, and then, hit the road. He had perfectly read my mind. Oh, well… cute though, no?
Next?
How about a beach home?
I’d have say Yes! in a minute if it weren’t for the stellar asking price of €1,200,000! Again, that price. What gives? Well, I know the answer: the villa is located in the tawny beach community of Pietrasanta Marittima, Marble HQ’s sea-sided sandy adjunct. You & I… and the Dogs… could move right in. There is no need to paint. Finally, You would get his adored Hazlitts Hotel’s Teal. Here, a tad lighter. But still, yuck. However, I can be Democratic. There’s an ample garden for our four-legged and much-loved companions. Fenced-in too. There are other fine attributes besides for this 60’s vintage villa, originally envisioned to be a comfortable beach house: three floors, wrap-around balconies, two Bedrooms, maybe three though the third might be posing as a walk-in closet… two Baths, at least, and it’s near to the beaches and their Summer noise & chaos. Oh! The villa is in immaculate condition. Makes part of the asking price, I am sure.
Two prospects. Neither perfect. Nor are they near to my original intention of relocating to Sarzana. I decided to redirect The Hunt back to Sarzana. Next post.