PROPERTY 1
Riverside apartment €150,000 (£132,740)
Where: Bagni di Lucca
Property details Ë Four bedrooms Ë One bathroom Ë 140 square metres Ë Garden and terrace Ë Overlooking River Lima
For more details: Villatua: 0039 0583 513 722;
www.villatua.com
When you fi rst fl ing open the shutters to the hubbub of an Italian town and a Tuscan river below, you’ll feel like Lucy Honeychurch in A Room With A View, opening the window to a new life. This apartment has high ceilings, large windows and original features, including art deco wrought-iron balconies. Some of that needs updating. With four bedrooms and a garden, there is ample space for the children to play and although there is only one family bathroom, most of the large bedrooms have sinks in them. Bagni di Lucca was one of Europe’s most popular spa towns in the 19th Century, and this apartment is a ten-minute walk from the thermal baths, but within metres of local shops and restaurants.
JEREMY LIKES: • This is great; you’re getting twice as much space as the other three apartments, plus a covered balcony. We could have people to stay.
• I love original features and anything art deco. • It’s in the heart of a historic town, yet within a bus ride of Pisa airport. • Overlooking water is exciting – we’d prefer a lake but a river is still better than houses.
JEREMY DISLIKES: • The only worry is how much renovation/decoration is needed – there’s nothing more scary for a parent than a rickety balcony!
20 A PLACE IN THE SUN JUNE 2011
PROPERTY 2 Lake views
€169,000 (£149,560) Where: Montemezzo, Lake Como
Property details Ë Two bedrooms Ë 95 square metres Ë Communal pool Ë Central heating, double glazing Ë Views of lake and pool
For more details: Casa Travella: 01322 660988;
www.casatravella.com
A spacious two-bedroom apartment occupying the upper fl oor of a small complex in Montemezzo, at the northern end of Lake Como, just a few miles from the Swiss border (and within an hour’s drive of the ski resorts in winter). From one balcony it has views over Lake Como, and from the other a view of the communal pool. This is a handy, low-maintenance option for anyone with children; there’s even a private underground parking space saving the hassle of loading kids into a baking hot car every time they go out. The village is a short drive away, and this end of Lake Como is more mountainous, but easy to get around on the many ferry services that cruise the lake. It will have excellent rental potential, at prices from between €400 and €900 per week.
JEREMY LIKES: • It’s a good option for a simple, lettable, easy to manage holiday home. • For a modern place it looks quite attractive too, and I do like the idea of a balcony for summer, yet heating for winter. • We hadn’t really considered skiing, but why not?
JEREMY DISLIKES: • It doesn’t seem like part of an Italian community. • I can see that if you love hiking in the mountains this would be a great option – but I can’t see me getting my children up a mountain just yet. • Costs add up when you need to hire a car on every visit.
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