Arpino, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy

Pied à Terre Juliet: a charming little fully-restored apartment in an old stone house nestled in the historic centre of Arpino, a beautiful medieval hilltop town only 90 minutes from Rome. A perfect pied-à-terre for a weekend away or for a peaceful long vacation.

The apartment enjoys a panoramic view and is reached up a flight of romantic old stone steps winding up through the narrow medieval alleyways to the apartment's separate arched stone entrance. The front door opens into an entry hall from which leads the light and airy bed-sittingroom. A sofa-bed would be ideal for this setting. The home is completed by a modern good-sized bathroom with built-in shower and a nicely-fitted modern kitchen with space for a dining table for two. There is autonomous central heating.

Absolutely newly restored, this pied-à-terre is a little gem. And, as an added bonus, across the street there is a large cellar storage room. Here you could store wine accumulated at visits to local vineyards, your drum of olive oil, a Vespa for buzzing around the local hilltop towns - or indeed all your personal possessions if you want to rent out the property when you are not using it.

Pied à Terre Juliet is only moments walk to the main piazza and restaurants, cafés, bars, shops and services - also to free public parking. Arpino has great road access to the superstrada and the main Rome/Naples autostrada. Less than 90 minutes drive brings you into the heart of Rome or to Rome's main international airport at Fiumicino. The second airport at Ciampino is only an hour away.

Energy classification: G


ARPINO AND THE CIOCIARIA

Rudere della Valle is a few minutes drive from Arpino, which 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 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.