Buy your own Tuscan Village
2012-07-02 10:36
So, Tuscan might be all the rage in South African complex architecture right now, but how would you like to be the proud owner of a true Tuscan village? Yes, village, not villa!
The Daily Mail reports that the 800-year-old village of Pratariccia, complete with 25 properties and adjoining farmland, has been put up for sale on eBay for a bargain of only £2million.
So, what's the catch?
Well, the once picturesque village has been uninhabited for 50 years and the traditional stone homes are in a sad state of collapse.
Of course, if you've got a good dose of chutzpah and a keen eye for renovation, this could perhaps be more of a dream come true a-la 'Under the Tuscan Sun.'
Currently owned by an undisclosed monastic order, it was placed on the auction website earlier this month by an estate agent who describes it as ‘in need of restoration'.
Pratariccia has been uninhabited since the early 1960s. As time took its toll on the elderly in the village, youngsters moved out in search of work and it now resembles a ghost town. Set in beautiful rolling hills 2,400ft above sea level, Pratariccia is only 25 miles east of Florence and close to the region of Italy dubbed ‘Chiantishire' for its abundance of British residents and holidaymakers.
Estate agent LPQ Immobiliare said that so far it had received ‘a number of interesting bids'
Two years ago the cash-strapped Italian government put up for sale 9,000 properties, worth £3billion, via its land registry website, with palaces, castles, islands and palazzos being offered for sale in an effort to cut the country's £1trillion public debt.
