Field notes on buying, restoring and living between the Alps and the Po.
Buying guide
Four-metre ceilings are wonderful and expensive. Here is the list we work through before we let a client make an offer on anything built before 1940.
Elena Ferrero · 18 June 2026 · 7 min
The hill
Two hundred metres of altitude is worth more in this city than in almost any other in Italy. The reason is meteorological, and it shows up in the transaction data.
Marco Bertolino · 27 May 2026 · 6 min
Architecture
The stained glass and the ironwork are why you are buying. They are also why the works take twice as long. A practical account of one recent restoration.
Elena Ferrero · 30 April 2026 · 8 min
Process
Proposta, compromesso, rogito — and the codice fiscale you need before any of them. What a foreign buyer actually has to do, and in what order.
Chiara Vinci · 19 March 2026 · 9 min
Neighbourhood
Two parallel roads in this district can be entirely different propositions. A guide to which is which, and why the difference is worth about fifteen per cent.
Marco Bertolino · 11 February 2026 · 6 min