Description:
As we leave the road from Montecassiano, a beautiful medieval town which has an orange flag, I Borghi piu belli in Italia
, and in English quite simply means one of the most beautiful villages in Italy and within 5 minutes we are heading northwards on a small country road towards the town of Appignano and on the left we pass a water tower and then we arrive at this casa colonica
built in the early1800's.
We enter in one of the two entrance gates and immediately notice the mature olive groves on the left hand side. There are approximately 70 trees within the grove which have been carefully tendered over the years thus making them high yielding and the oil production has been of good quality in the past years.
We park within the 2ha of garden area that comes with the property and apart from the olive grove, the garden is mainly lawn with the borders being of mature trees both deciduous and evergreen. As I stroll round the outside of the property, I notice a pozzo
, water well which the current owner informs me is used for irrigation purposes as the house is also connected and serviced by mains water. The reminants of the old electrical system are also visible from outside the house and therefore indicated that the electric current arrives to the house and can easily be connected. In the garden area, there are also a number of outbuildings, one of which is a large annexe, once used as a shelter for animals, with an area of approximately 398 sqm. This has the potential to be converted into a separate guest accommodation or integrated into the main house. To the rear of this outbuilding is a sunken area which was once covered and therefore has the potential to be made into a covered garage or even better makes a wonderful position for an infinity edge swimming pool, taking in the views over the surrounding Marchigiana countryside which extend all the way to the Conero national park and towards the Adriatic coastline.
The other outbuildings consist of two open sided barns used to store agricultural machinery and wood. The final outbuilding is that of a temporary garage. In total this casa colonica
has the potential to be a large family home with separate guest accommodation as there is the possibility to use and convert approximately 1500sqm of habitable space.
The main house is currently divided into two independent apartments both on the upper level. The ground floor of the house is completely unrestored and has been used mainly as animal shelters and storage rooms. Via one of the outside staircases, typical of the Marchigana vernacular, we enter the first apartment and into a room which was once either a living rooms or kitchen as it has a large open fireplace. Most of the rooms have exposed wooden beams and from the first room, you have access to a further two rooms and off to the left is a corridor which leads to a further 6 rooms.
The second apartment is again entered by an outside staircase and from the small porch you enter into the kitchen dining room, which again has a large fireplace and exposed wooden beams and brickwork. There is also an antique sink with ceramic tile surround. From the kitchen there is a small separate pantry room and bathroom. Through into the next room, which is currently being used as an exhibition room for the current owners collection of stuffed animals and birds, again has exposed beams. Leading from this room, is the apartments sleeping zone. This area has two bedrooms, one of which has an interesting exposed brick alcove with the top stone showing the original date of when the building was constructed, 1808 and a further bathroom.
The property and outbuildings has a garden area of 2ha but it is also possible to purchase upto a further 30ha. The price per ha of agricultural land is approximately 20 - 30,000 euros, therefore if all 32ha were desired, the asking price for this casa colonica con terrano
is 1.4 million euros. Land in this area is very sought after and therefore if one feels that having all 32 ha is too much, there is the potential to rent out the land to local farmers.
The properties location is rural but the local town of Montecassiano, where all local amenities can be found, can be accessed within 15 minutes drive and the larger towns of Jesi and Macerata can be reached within 30 minutes drive. Local bar/cafè/shop are located within 5 minutes of the property for that early morning coffee. The airport at Ancona and the Adriatic coastline are within an hours drive and from the rural and dominant position of this property, it gives uninterrupted views over the surrounding countryside.
The main house is in good structural condition but investigation into whether the structure needs improvement is advised but once the restoration of the ground floor and reconfiguration of the upper level has been completed, I feel that this property could make a wonderful holiday home and possibly even has the potential of return on investment whether it is by renting out the extra land or using the separate second building as a guest villa.
