Arpino, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy

In a quiet and charming hamlet just outside the old gates of Arpino, within walking distance of the main piazza, Casa Ruscello is an old stone town house with a striking garden. Ready to move into as is, with further potential to create a stunning kitchen and dining entertaining area in the old stone cellar that opens onto the garden (this is already fully wired and plumbed, and just needs the kitchen to be fitted out and internal stairs created).

The solid old wood front doors of the house open into a generous entrance hall. To the left, double wood and glass doors lead into an open plan living area. The sitting area looks out over the 'ruscello' (little stream) towards rolling hillside farmland. The kitchen looks out at the stone hamlet, with its flower covered old walls. What is currently a pantry room opening off the kitchen area could become stairs down to the cantina level, which opens onto the garden, and is already fully plumbed and wired to have a kitchen installed.

The main entrance hall of the house also has a guest wc, and wide stone stairs leading to the upper floor, where you will find two large bedrooms and a bathroom.

The lovely old stone cantina has already been prepared for a modern kitchen and entertaining area; there is space for a further dining area, as well as an additional room and bathroom (also already plumbed and wired).

The cantina opens directly onto the garden, which owing to the slope of the land is one storey below street level. The garden runs between an old stone wall to the back and the drop down to the stream at the front. There is a patio area directly outside the cantina, followed by a lawn, and a wooden gazebo at the far end.

Therefore the house can be used two ways. For immediate occupancy, there is a living/dining area with open plan kitchen and guest w.c. on the ground floor, and two bedrooms and a bathroom on the upper floor. With the addition of an internal flight of stairs and the fitting out of the already plumbed and wired kitchen and bathroom in the cantina, there can be a large stone kitchen opening onto the garden, with a further room overlooking the stream and an ensuite bathroom; a living room and guest w.c. on the floor above; and the current two bedrooms and bathroom on the top floor.


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 publicised 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 CASE & CASALI REAL ESTATE 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 Case & Casali Real Estate Agency represented by Sig. Ciro Tomei. Sig. Tomei has been enrolled in the register of real estate agents at the Chamber of Commerce in Frosinone, Lazio since 2007 and has much experience in the international marketing of Italian real estate.