Clients Stories
Why Puglia???
Having never been to that part of Italy until last year and not really knowing the first thing about it, it’s not an easy question to answer. But for the purposes of this piece,
maybe this explanation will go someway towards why it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done:
London. Saturday May 12th 2007
It took me half an hour to drive two miles from the market to my house AND when I did eventually get home it took me twenty minutes to find a parking space. It’s now 1.30
pm in the afternoon and I’ve just put the lights on …… because it’s dark!
space. It’s now 1.30pm in the afternoon and I’ve just put the lights on …… because it’s dark!
Contrast and compare. This weekend Puglia reached 30 degrees. It’s hot and sunny of course. If I’d been there, I would have been at the market in Maglie where I know
for a fact it wouldn’t have cost me an arm and a leg to buy a few local,seasonal vegetables.
After my market shopping (where incidentally, I now have a very special relationship with “the sausage man”. He always gives me much more than I ever really want.) I
would have driven back home to my beautiful house in Sogliano Cavour, parked right outside without any trouble at all. Then probably sat out on one of several roof
terraces in the blazing sunshine with some fresh asparagus and a glass of local wine. ( Or even a sausage if it took my fancy.)
Does this go someway towards explaining why I bought a house in Puglia?
So my story begins last winter, when I decide to buy a house abroad. Just about to embark on researching the whole France thing, I was offered some very valuable advice
from a friend. Quite simply, she pointed out, I hated the French. God you’re right I said. Who do I like? Well the Italians are great she said, very sociable and a bit
bonkers. She was right again …… I did love Italy and the Italians and so ….. I started to research the whole Italian thing.
I soon worked out I couldn’t afford Tuscany, but to be honest I really didn’t want to live in a place inundated with Brits, so that was fine by me. Anyway, my idea of living hell
would have been to move into an idyllic abode, only to discover my neighbours Tarquin and Camilla (from Parsons Green) couldn’t wait to invite me over for a pheasant and
chive tartlet and fill me in on just how good their local schools are..
My idea of living hell – so no thanks very much. I wanted real Italy where Italians lived. Where I could eat raw seafood, drink local wine and learn the language because I
had to. And so, I went to Puglia.
The first time I visited the area , I flew to Brindisi and headed for Ostuni: The White City.
I was shown around Ostuni, which is about half an hour north of Brindisi, by a very enthusiastic Estate Agent: half Italian/half English. However, he just wasn’t showing me
the right sort of property and I hadn’t a clue what I was really looking for. I loved the area and I had a real instinctive sense that this part of Italy was exactly right for me. But
being shown houses with two orchards and huge vineyards was just far too scary for words. I didn’t want a farm. I live in London for God’s sake. We don’t even have
gardens the size of a postage stamp here.
I know now, it was wise not to rush into things. Buying something like that would have just turned my life into a real life hideous TV reality show. You know the ones. They’
re on all the time. People buy totally the wrong thing and before they know it, the husband’s turned to the cheap local drink, the wife’s on valium and there’s a camera
crew living in their house 24/7 costing them a fortune in tea, biscuits and toilet paper.
Anyway, back to my story. So ….. Loving the area, but undecided on what I wanted, I got on the plane to return home for a rethink. And that flight home, is where fate
kicked in. I started chatting to a couple sat next to me, who’d just bought their second house in Puglia.
They understood my predicament and suggested I talk to the agent who’d sold them their two properties. Fortunately the following week the Italian Property Exhibition was
on at London ‘s Olympia. So I hunted down Ian and Lynne’s recommendation: Leeann. I explained that I loved the area but really didn’t’ know what I wanted. Now Leeann
is an Essex girl. She’s very direct, but she cuts to the chase and has tons more common sense that most people I’ve ever met. You live in London she said. You don’t
want an orchard and a vineyard. I know, I said. But I’m not sure what I want………..
This is the sort of thing you want, she said. Then she showed me pictures of a couple of beautiful medieval townhouses. They were stunning. She was absolutely right. I
returned to Puglia, but south of Brindisi this time to meet up with Leeann, who’s based in Maglie. There are fewer English people there; it’s less touristy and totally unspoilt.
It’s perfect. I saw two houses and I loved them both.
After much deliberation, I bought the second house I saw. I’ve owned it now for nearly six months. It was being renovated when I first saw it last October and it was finished
in February. It’s absolutely fantastic. The mayor used to own it, it’s got a huge stained glass door, and it’s bigger than my house in London AND cost about a fifth of the
price.
In all honesty, I’m not the best equipped person to offer tips on buying. I’m not an expert and I was given a huge amount of help, advice and support from Leeann, who
must take a lot of the credit here. But I would say this. Buying a property that’s being renovated has a lot going for it. To some extent you can get the colour schemes you
want, you get brand new bathrooms and kitchens and a new paint job throughout. It’s like having a luxury makeover on the property, but for a price so reasonable, it’s
almost unreal.
Then once you’ve signed on the dotted line and the property is yours, it’s time to go shopping. And when it comes to furnishing your home down in Puglia, the shops are
absolutely gorgeous. Again, you will pay a fraction of the price you pay in the UK.
I love going back there every time. And in the short few months and times I’ve been back, I’ve experienced things that I never have before. An amazing Good Friday
parade , which felt like being an extra in a scene from The Godfather. Fresh sea urchin, freshly picked wild asparagus and even sea grasshopper! I’ve driven the length
and breadth of the area AND I’ve only ever seen ONE McDonalds. How fantastic is that?
So if you are a fast food fan, looking for karaoke, nightclubs, wet t shirt competitions, English pubs, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Bingo and English roast dinners served in
“quaint” sounding pubs like “The Sunburnt Arms” then you’ll have to go somewhere else, because you won’t get that in Puglia. Not in a million years. Well not for a long
long long time yet I hope.
Anon
Having never been to that part of Italy until last year and not really knowing the first thing about it, it’s not an easy question to answer. But for the purposes of this piece,
maybe this explanation will go someway towards why it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done:
London. Saturday May 12th 2007
It took me half an hour to drive two miles from the market to my house AND when I did eventually get home it took me twenty minutes to find a parking space. It’s now 1.30
pm in the afternoon and I’ve just put the lights on …… because it’s dark!
space. It’s now 1.30pm in the afternoon and I’ve just put the lights on …… because it’s dark!
Contrast and compare. This weekend Puglia reached 30 degrees. It’s hot and sunny of course. If I’d been there, I would have been at the market in Maglie where I know
for a fact it wouldn’t have cost me an arm and a leg to buy a few local,seasonal vegetables.
After my market shopping (where incidentally, I now have a very special relationship with “the sausage man”. He always gives me much more than I ever really want.) I
would have driven back home to my beautiful house in Sogliano Cavour, parked right outside without any trouble at all. Then probably sat out on one of several roof
terraces in the blazing sunshine with some fresh asparagus and a glass of local wine. ( Or even a sausage if it took my fancy.)
Does this go someway towards explaining why I bought a house in Puglia?
So my story begins last winter, when I decide to buy a house abroad. Just about to embark on researching the whole France thing, I was offered some very valuable advice
from a friend. Quite simply, she pointed out, I hated the French. God you’re right I said. Who do I like? Well the Italians are great she said, very sociable and a bit
bonkers. She was right again …… I did love Italy and the Italians and so ….. I started to research the whole Italian thing.
I soon worked out I couldn’t afford Tuscany, but to be honest I really didn’t want to live in a place inundated with Brits, so that was fine by me. Anyway, my idea of living hell
would have been to move into an idyllic abode, only to discover my neighbours Tarquin and Camilla (from Parsons Green) couldn’t wait to invite me over for a pheasant and
chive tartlet and fill me in on just how good their local schools are..
My idea of living hell – so no thanks very much. I wanted real Italy where Italians lived. Where I could eat raw seafood, drink local wine and learn the language because I
had to. And so, I went to Puglia.
The first time I visited the area , I flew to Brindisi and headed for Ostuni: The White City.
I was shown around Ostuni, which is about half an hour north of Brindisi, by a very enthusiastic Estate Agent: half Italian/half English. However, he just wasn’t showing me
the right sort of property and I hadn’t a clue what I was really looking for. I loved the area and I had a real instinctive sense that this part of Italy was exactly right for me. But
being shown houses with two orchards and huge vineyards was just far too scary for words. I didn’t want a farm. I live in London for God’s sake. We don’t even have
gardens the size of a postage stamp here.
I know now, it was wise not to rush into things. Buying something like that would have just turned my life into a real life hideous TV reality show. You know the ones. They’
re on all the time. People buy totally the wrong thing and before they know it, the husband’s turned to the cheap local drink, the wife’s on valium and there’s a camera
crew living in their house 24/7 costing them a fortune in tea, biscuits and toilet paper.
Anyway, back to my story. So ….. Loving the area, but undecided on what I wanted, I got on the plane to return home for a rethink. And that flight home, is where fate
kicked in. I started chatting to a couple sat next to me, who’d just bought their second house in Puglia.
They understood my predicament and suggested I talk to the agent who’d sold them their two properties. Fortunately the following week the Italian Property Exhibition was
on at London ‘s Olympia. So I hunted down Ian and Lynne’s recommendation: Leeann. I explained that I loved the area but really didn’t’ know what I wanted. Now Leeann
is an Essex girl. She’s very direct, but she cuts to the chase and has tons more common sense that most people I’ve ever met. You live in London she said. You don’t
want an orchard and a vineyard. I know, I said. But I’m not sure what I want………..
This is the sort of thing you want, she said. Then she showed me pictures of a couple of beautiful medieval townhouses. They were stunning. She was absolutely right. I
returned to Puglia, but south of Brindisi this time to meet up with Leeann, who’s based in Maglie. There are fewer English people there; it’s less touristy and totally unspoilt.
It’s perfect. I saw two houses and I loved them both.
After much deliberation, I bought the second house I saw. I’ve owned it now for nearly six months. It was being renovated when I first saw it last October and it was finished
in February. It’s absolutely fantastic. The mayor used to own it, it’s got a huge stained glass door, and it’s bigger than my house in London AND cost about a fifth of the
price.
In all honesty, I’m not the best equipped person to offer tips on buying. I’m not an expert and I was given a huge amount of help, advice and support from Leeann, who
must take a lot of the credit here. But I would say this. Buying a property that’s being renovated has a lot going for it. To some extent you can get the colour schemes you
want, you get brand new bathrooms and kitchens and a new paint job throughout. It’s like having a luxury makeover on the property, but for a price so reasonable, it’s
almost unreal.
Then once you’ve signed on the dotted line and the property is yours, it’s time to go shopping. And when it comes to furnishing your home down in Puglia, the shops are
absolutely gorgeous. Again, you will pay a fraction of the price you pay in the UK.
I love going back there every time. And in the short few months and times I’ve been back, I’ve experienced things that I never have before. An amazing Good Friday
parade , which felt like being an extra in a scene from The Godfather. Fresh sea urchin, freshly picked wild asparagus and even sea grasshopper! I’ve driven the length
and breadth of the area AND I’ve only ever seen ONE McDonalds. How fantastic is that?
So if you are a fast food fan, looking for karaoke, nightclubs, wet t shirt competitions, English pubs, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Bingo and English roast dinners served in
“quaint” sounding pubs like “The Sunburnt Arms” then you’ll have to go somewhere else, because you won’t get that in Puglia. Not in a million years. Well not for a long
long long time yet I hope.
Anon
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