Arpino, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy

Casa Tillo, a 139 sq.mt. 2 bed/2 bath home with a 400 sq.mt. garden, forms part of a little cluster of houses around an 'aia' (a centuries-old grain-threshing circle), which would once have belonged to one extended farming family, and is still a very friendly and welcoming little community.

Built in the traditional style and layout, the ground floor of this attractive home has the front door and entrance hall in the centre of the house. To the left of the entrance hall is the sitting room, and to the right is the kitchen. Beyond the kitchen is the old 'cantina' or storeroom.

Stairs from the entrance hall lead to the upper level, where there are two bedrooms, both opening onto a balcony,and additionally two bathrooms.

A separate building houses the garage and another kitchen (originally used for bottling home-grown fruit and vegetables, canning the olive oil, making bread, etc). There is an old bread oven built into the back of this structure.

There is a patio in front of the house, and a garden behind the garage - it is possible to drive across the patio to the garage, and for garden deliveries there is also a gate directly into the garden.

The property is located partway between the historic cultural hilltop town of Arpino and the old spa town of Fontana Liri. Both Arpino and Fontana Liri have all the cafés, bars, restaurants, shops and services required for the full enjoyment of day-to-day Italian life.

Central Rome and also Rome's Fiumicino airport are only a 90 minute drive, while Rome's Ciampino airport is less than an hour 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.