Arpino, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy

Villa Filomena is a striking modern house in a quiet location that nonetheless is only a minute or two's walk from the post office, bakery, cafe, pharmacy, greengrocers and the other amenities of Colli town centre.

The house has been built, but not yet fitted out, so that it can be completed in a number of ways: as a large private home, as separate apartments, or (as originally planned by the owner) with office or work space on the lowest level.

The main floor of the house has a kitchen with walk-in pantry, opening onto a large covered terrace. The large sitting room opens onto a wood covered porch. The bedrooms, with wrap around balcony, can share a bathroom or, at this stage, could still easily be altered to have ensuites.

The top floor, which boasts a balcony with sweeping views, has currently been left as largely open space, which can be divided and used as you like.

The lower floor has been laid out with a small separate apartment or guest accommodation, garage, and extensive further storage and workrooms - there is plumbing for a further bathroom, because this area was intended to become a professional office for the owner's son.

The staircase between the levels runs up the 'tower', and has been designed so that it can either be open to the floors, as at present, or closed off, providing access between separate apartments, each with their own entrance. The garden (1,400 sq mt), which extends in two wings from the house, can also be divided easily between the apartments; alternatively, if it remains one complete house, there can be a garden area, and a flat area suitable for a swimming pool.

COLLI AND THE CIOCIARIA

Colli is a charming little medieval hilltop town 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. Nearby towns include Monte San Giovanni Campano, Anitrella, Arce and Fontana Liri, all of which have a series of festivals, concert series and other interesting public events throughout the year. Colli itself has a very nice wine festival, as well as the normal civic festivals celebrating the town's patron saint day etc.

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.