Finding our dream house in Tuscany (Building our new life in Tuscany)

Having decided we are going to make the move and turn our dream into reality, it was time to get down to work. One of the hardest things to pin down was what exactly we want. Beyond ‘moving to Tuscany to build a better life’ we needed to find out a lot more about what exactly that looks like – and equally what it doesn’t look like. The best way to do so is to dive in and find out, so this involved us spending a lot of time exploring Tuscany, visiting multiple properties, finding out where we want to be – but equally it was important to try to imagine and better understand what our life would actually be like once we move – what will we do, how will our day / week / year actually look like. This was in fact the most important and had a decisive impact on our final choice of location, house etc.

 

We both wanted to live in Tuscany for the weather, the food & drink, the lifestyle, the scenery etc. Lots of common ground, but not on everything.

I wanted to be in the hills, Monika more by the sea.

I wanted the idyllic Tuscany house on a hill, rolling fields, olives, vineyard.

Monika wanted Russell Crowe walking through the garden in his Gladiator gear.

This was going to be a challenge.

 

We found what I initially thought was our dream home quite early on – which meant that every other property was compared to this one, which was a tough benchmark – it was amazing – a beautiful Villa, atop a rolling hill, 360 degree panoramic views, with olive groves and the possibility of a vineyard. Everything we wanted. I couldn’t believe my luck.

But in the end we are so glad that we didn’t buy it. Why? Well, life there would simply not have been what we actually need. As we closed in on buying the property we decided to go stay nearby for a week – something I would definitely recommend anyone buying here to do – to get a small taste for what life would be like if we bought it, to visit the restaurants and shops, to speak with the locals etc. In the end it was the remote location – 4km from the nearest village, 50 minutes from the sea (on crazy bendy roads) – that was the main deal-breaker. Yes we wanted to have the views, to have our own privacy etc, but we didn’t want to be cut off, we didn’t want to have to drive everywhere. We didn’t want to have to drive guests everywhere, or for guests to feel isolated and fully dependent on us.

 

When this reality hit – that the dream house wasn’t indeed a dream house – I was devastated. What now?

 

It took a while to get over the disappointment but of course the search had to go on. Our dream property had to be out there, so we had to keep looking, despite this set-back . . .

It’s then that we recalled seeing one amazing house nearer the coast which was over-budget, so we had somehow forgotten about it, thinking it’s out of our reach. Why bother getting excited when you cannot afford it?

But when I looked again at the advert and re-checked on the map exactly where it is, we decided we just had to go visit again as it ticked all of the boxes. And maybe we can stretch our budget a bit more for the perfect place  . . . so I got to work on checking our finances in parallel, to find a few more pennies.

 

As soon as we saw it again, we realised that THIS was really the dream house. The feeling was immediate. It felt amazing. We’re definitely buying this house.

– It’s a beautiful house, freshly renovated; in the hills and yet near the sea; with spectacular panoramic views; very private and yet so well connected (by foot to the village, bars and restaurants, just 45minutes to Pisa airport, and short drives to all of Tuscany’s best destinations). And the views . . . wow. Did I mention the views?

– during the first viewing we hadn’t visited the village, so that was very important during the second viewing, especially due to our concerns about practicalities and being too isolated . . . and what a gem Montescudaio turned out to be. The village has everything you could possibly need – bakery, various restaurants & bars, chemist, bank, post office, grocery stores etc etc – and the house is just a few minutes walk away. Oh, and the locals are wonderful – we feel very welcome and absolutely love living in Montescudaio.

I haven’t seen Russell Crowe in the garden yet, but Monika keeps looking in hope.