Arpino, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy

Casa Vallefredda is a beautiful old stone house with sweeping panoramic views set in a little cluster of houses a few minutes from the medieval hilltop town of Arpino, only 90 minutes from Rome. Vaulted stone ceilings and arches on the lowest floor, open log fireplaces, a terrace, a garden courtyard and a large terraced plot of land are among the many attractive features of this property.

The current layout of the home has a kitchen, sitting room and bathroom on the ground floor, and four bedrooms above, two on each floor, with a second small bathroom on the landing. There are two stone rooms on the lowest level (one with an antique fireplace) opening onto a small courtyard garden.

Casa Vallefredda is technically habitable at present after installing a new kitchen, but the home would benefit from some reorganisation and modernisation, changes that would add substantial value to the property. Also there is a huge opportunity to take full advantage of the two beautiful stone rooms on the lowest floor and also the courtyard garden, which have not been used for some years

An easy reorganisation of the rooms would move the kitchen to the stone-vaulted room directly below its current location, where it would open directly onto the covered part of the half-covered / half-open courtyard (which itself has lovely views out over the valley). This would make a wonderful venue for al fresco lunches, drinks at sunset and dinners looking out over the lights in the valley below.

The other room on this lowest level, also stone vaulted, has an open antique stone fireplace, and would make an elegant dining room. (There is a walk-in niche in this room, cut into the rock, which could make a charming feature such as a bar or decorative wine-cellar).

The main floor could then be configured as a sitting room opening onto the large terrace, a guest w.c. and a study, all with fine sweeping views. This level would also have a utility room, with space to park a vespa (further car parking space can be created on the accompanying plot of land).

The next level would have a full master bedroom suite - a large bedroom with an open fireplace, a dressing room and a bathroom; and two guest bedrooms would share a bathroom on the top floor. Additionally there would be a laundry room off the stairs.

Included on the title deeds to Casa Vallefredda is a large plot of land sloping from the road down the hillside. Although currently rather overgrown,the land has been properly terraced and could become a charming garden with olive groves. There is space to install a swimming pool on one of the terraces (subject to the normal planning consents).

An option for a purchaser of this potentially stunning home would be to have this house brought up to date, fitted out with a kitchen of the purchaser's choosing, additional and more modern bathrooms installed, redecorated, etc., as a fixed price turn-key deal.

There is excellent road access, and a wide selection of shops, restaurants cafés and services are only a few minutes drive away.

Energy classification: G


ARPINO AND THE CIOCIARIA

Arpino is one of the major medieval hilltop towns in the area of Italy called the Ciociaria, the name given to the fertile land that lies south of Rome but north of Naples, situated inland in the hills in the heart of Italy.

The Ciociaria region is within easy reach of both Rome and Naples and their respective airports. A day's shopping in Rome is a common pastime, while an even shorter drive brings you to the charming beaches south of Rome. Alternatively, drive east, and the mountains of the Abruzzo National Park await with horse trekking in the magnificent beech forests, and sparkling mountain lakes and rivers where you can swim in the heat of the summer. And at the other extreme of temperature, although Arpino itself is temperate, less than an hour's drive brings you to the winter ski slopes.

Often overlooked, both by tourists and by those foreigners in search of an Italian home, in favour of the more publicized regions of Tuscany and Umbria, the Ciociaria remains largely an unspoilt gem with beautiful scenery and medieval hilltop towns. A home or second home in the Ciociaria, in the hilltop towns of Arpino, Veroli, Alatri or in the rolling countryside that surrounds them, will afford you a setting where over two thousand years of history combine with an idyllic rural Italian lifestyle, where you can still discover the 'real' Italy and take time out from the busy crowds of the larger tourist cities, while being less than ninety minutes journey from central Rome or either of Rome's two airports.


VIA ROMANA Srls and the CINELLI IMMOBILIARE AGENCY

Via Romana Srls is an Italian-incorporated company owned by a British/Australian Chartered Accountant and her photographer daughter, and offers a package of services to facilitate all aspects of the purchase and restoration of Italian property by overseas clients. The Via Romana team works in collaboration with various fully-licensed Italian real estate agencies including the Cinelli Immobiliare Agency. The Cinelli Immobiliare Agency aims at identifying unique buildings with outstanding locations in the beautiful Ciociaria region, including apartments, historic houses, villas, palazzos and farmhouses. Some of these properties are already renovated while others are to be restored. The Cinelli Immobiliare Agency also provides reliable and full service renovations focussed on the appropriate use of original materials, such as stone, wood and wrought iron, drawing on over 40 years' experience in the restoration sector of their partner company Cinelli Claudio Restorations and their technical office, headed by Ing. Valentina Cinelli.