4 bedroom villa for sale

INTRODUCTION
FIRST TIME ON THE MARKET!

This is a spacious villa on two floors of 145 sq. m living area with high vaulted ceilings of the old style and large rooms, with a beautiful land plot with great views over the surrounding country side and has a large roof terrace. part of the hose is over 200 years old, all made by using local stone, called tufo. The house was extended and then modernised in 1960, using tufo and concrete. The accommodation comprises of 8 rooms and currently laid out as two very spacious double bedrooms each of 30 sq. m (!) with beautiful old vaulted ceilings, 2 bathrooms, living room, dining room and kitchen. The living room has doors straight out to the covered veranda as well as kitchen has its own entrance from the terrace for kitchen deliveries. The other half of the ground floor of the villa to the east has three rooms; the original kitchen with the pizza/bread oven; the inner room (used to collect the grapes for pressing and connected to the underground large storage with several large vine-containers); and the garage; which can be converted to a self- contained apartment with 1-2 bedrooms, bathroom and open plan kitchen.

To the north of the building is a large covered storage area and a separate room, to be used for storage, studio or office use.

On the mezzanine floor is a 3rd bedroom and upstairs the large roof terrace.

The floor layout could be changed into 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms plus the self- contained apartment possibility. It is also possible to convert adjacent non-residential rooms if more residential area is needed and extend the property for a total space of 270 sq m. Floor plans have been prepared for this possible project. In addition, the villa has a large free standing basement with the old vine containers for wine production.The separate basement has wine cisterns over 100 cubic metres as the owners' grandfather and his father before him of the owning family was making wines.The family owned all the surrounding land and properties in this area, including the two masserias seen from the property.
There is also an unique underground cave/dungeon which could be used as a grand dining hall, a spa or gym, wine cellar or for extra storage space.
To the south of the garden is a well maintained building with original vaulted ceiling: This could be converted to a one bedroom ensuite unit.

The villa is in a private and secluded location in an active farming community producing gains, vegetables and cattle farms and the area has breath- taking views over the famous murge, a high plateau on 350-400 m altitude.
The nearest town is the historical Gioia del Colle (11 km) with many fine restaurants, shops and supermarkets, which is a 10 minutes' easy drive on good road with little traffic.

To the beaches of the Ionian Sea- with the best sun set in the sea - it takes 30-35 minutes on good roads with little traffic.


The garden of 7.350 sq m which surrounds the villa is mature and has about 40 olive trees and green plants and bushes.
This is pure country side, the road has very limited traffic and can't be seen or heard from the villa.
The property has been used as a the summer house for the owning family and the property has never been on the market but owned by the same family for many, many generations.

The neighbour is a cattle farm, also with other animals. At the hillside are two masserias at 500 m distance (one partly vacant the other fully vacant) and 500 m up the road an English couple has just bought a large property to star a B & B business. The rest is just the nature of the murge. It is 30 minutes to the Ionian Sea, 40 minutes to Matera and 40 minutes to Alberobello, both UNESCO world heritage sites.

LOCATION:
The villa is located 11 km south of the historical town of GIOIA DEL COLLE, with approximately 28 000 inhabitants. The town is built around a castle and offers rich architecture, good shopping and many good restaurants. The town is famous its burrata cheese and mozzarella, also for "zampine", which is a rolled sausage. Gioia di Colle has also a DOC classification for its fine Primitivo (Zinfandel) red wine.
The property is located in the municipality of Castellaneta, which is 17 km away. This town is also worth while to visit and has many fine Architectual interesting history

The property is only 45 minutes to Bari Airport thanks to the modern motorway E843. It is a toll road but the fatest way and in excellent condition.

The villa has the advantage of being not far from main areas of world interest such as the world famous trullo houses of ALBEROBELLO - an UNESCO World heritage site (40 minutes); MATERA, also an UNESCO World heritage site (40 minutes) with international fame for its ancient town and dwellings carved into the rock thought to be the first ever built settlement in Italy; the mile long caves of CASTELLANA; the archaeological excavations of the Roman EGNATIA by the Adriatic coast line; the beautiful white town of OSTUNI, located on top of a hill with fantastic seaviews; the medieval town of ORIA; the wealthy baroque town of MARTINA FRANCA ( where the grapes to the famous Martini wine comes from); the petite and charming CISTERNINO, the Zoo Safari Park of FASANO (lots of fun for children and adults alike); the sea side POLIGNANO A MARE, well known also for its tasty icecream; GROTTAGLIE famous for its cheramics and old stone carvings; and last but not least the famous baroque city of LECCE which is called the Florence of the South. Lecce has countless medical churches and a great richness of architecture. In town there is also the famous Roman amfibi theatre which is used for music and drama performances in the open during the summer season. Lecce is a wondeful town for long walks, enjoying the fantastic atmosphere, bars, outside restaurants and, naturally, great shops.

The distance to the IONIAN SEA is approximately 41 km (30-35 minutes) and offers many nice seaside villages from Lido Azzuro to Castellaneta with the large nature reserve Stornara in-between.

Further to the south, inland SALENTO have a number of historical charming villages with ancient history. The advantage to stay in a village is to be able to socialise with Italian neighbours, to walk to the cafe and buy a newspaper and a cup of coffee in the morning and having all amenities within reach day time and night time. The town houses often come with a garden and roof terrace. and its fascination to open the simple door from the street - and inside almost like a little palace with a garden!

In Sternatina and Martigignano to the south of Lecce antique Greek is still spoken by the villagers.
Maglie is like a mini Lecce and with many fine buildings. Muoro Leccese is smaller and also represent a small town/village with a fine architectural history. Cutrofiano popular for French holiday home ownership. Ruffano has many fine old buildings for sale, waiting to find new owners and to be restored. Surano has a small town centre with very nice antique buildings for sale. Spongano again is a small village surrounded by olive grooves. Here you can see secluded great villas and country retreats owned by foreigners and families from North Italy who come to relax in rural Salento.
The east coast of Salento is rougher than the south west and for people who enjoy the sea and fishing. Some what more elegant than the east coast. Castro is beautiful with its location on top of the cliff by the sea and many villas with direct access to the sea. Santa Cesarea Terme is a spa resort, very popular with a beautiful setting and bay.
The cost from Santa Maria di Leuca to Gallipoli has many fine sandy beaches. The villages are perhaps not the prettiest but room for the beach life, pizzerias, restaurants and disco music summer time.
Santa Catarina well known also for its many fine villas in the area, some antique.
The sea outside of Porto Cesare further up the coast is probably the most beautiful and fantastic sunsets.

GETTING THERE:
By air there are two international airports, served by Ryanair, Easyjet , BA and others, both easily reached; Bari in the north by car (63 km) on the toll motorway in approximately 45 minutes and Brindisi in the south, approximately 75 minutes.

MORE TO SEE IN APULIA:
BARI being the commercial capital city with 250 000 inhabitants offers the best shopping, a grand opera house, called the Petruzzelli teatro; a large medical city centre with many museums. Just north of Bari lies a little town called GIOVINAZZO a true gem, right by the sea. Further north is MOLFETTA Outlet, a famous shopping galleria and 20 minutes further is TRANI, a sophisticated town with a beautiful half moon bay & marina. Continue north to CASTEL EL MONTE, which is the mystical castle built by Frederic II in the 14th Century.
Within a 2,5 hour drive to the North of Bari lies GARGANO, the peninsula called the spur of the Italian boot. Gargano forms a large nature and wild life Reserve and offers hiking and scenic trips around the peninsula. From here there are daily boat trips to the small Tremiti Islands.

LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE:
The Italian lifestyle means many things but especially socialising; the home is used for sleeping and breakfasts, the Italians go out for enjoyments and dining. There are so much you can experience, like early morning markets in the small towns. music festivals, religious carnivals, the beach life, historical tours in the main towns, cooking classes, learning a bit Italian at language schools in Lecce, dining at the many country and sea side restaurants, night clubbing at the beach clubs of Capitolo.

SPORTS:
As Apulia is a peninsula and surrounded by the two seas- the Adriatic in the north and the Ionic in the south - water sports dominate in the area; sailing, yachting, water-skiing, kite-surfing swimming & beach life. Golf is available with five good courses and San Domenico is world class (PGA 2014 Challenge Final). Tennis, horseback riding, hiking and bicycle tours are other options for the active minded. Squash clubs are located in Bari, Bitonto and other places.

The WEATHER:
Being south, Apulia has warmer weather than northern Italy and even in the"winter months" of December to February the average number of sun hours per day is 4 and in June-August 10-11 sun hours per day! This means you can enjoy a long season of nice weather in Apulia. When you plan to buy a holiday home in Apulia think of that you will spend a lot more time outside than in the inside compared to at home. Therefore you will need plenty of terrace space, pergolas etc at your Apulian property and also cooking facilities outside is very practical.

The water temperature in beginning of May is in average 19 degrees, up to 27 degrees in August/September and 19 degrees in November. This means you & family will spend time at the beach. Where ever you are in Apulia you can reach the beaches within 30 minutes!

WHY BUY IN APULIA?
Apulia has until recently been called the hidden treasure of Italy, unknown to most tourists who come & stay in Rome, Florence, Venize and at the Italian Riviera. However, all this is rapidly changing because of massive investments in the infrastructure, such as the improved motorways, enlarged airports and the introduction of low cost airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet. The property prices are low in Apulia and low means value for money at bargain prices for the international buyers. We see more and more foreign visitors coming to Apulia and in our opinion investments will show good growth in value because of the increased demand. Also from north Italians as Apulia has become the most popular holiday destination for Italians. But rest assure, no tourist villages will ever be built because in Apulia the cost line is protected and people are against modern developments which do not fit into this historical landscape. Therefore, with increased demand for a fixed and limited number of properties prices are bound to rise.

WHY BUY FROM APULIA
Firstly we are an English speaking agency based in the middle of Apulia with local experience and can guide you to get the right property at the right price for you.
Secondly we have personally inspected every property that we recommend to buy and do not list hundreds of properties but a smaller selection of properties which we believe offer good value to the buyer. In Apulia many properties are offered at unrealistic prices but we say no to sellers who want us to list properties for sale at silly prices.
We have many years of international property experience, including 10 years in London, and see investments in Apulia through an international perspective. We have been active in several EU property markets and specialise in property management to ensure well maintained property for growth in property value.

Based on our 30 year experience in the property markets, we have a comprehensive range of local services:

- acting for the buyer - and not for the seller - by searching the market for the right property, negotiate the price and give advise through the buying process leading to completion of the purchase
- property management; we look after your property when you are away and ensure it is in perfect condition when you arrive. We will prepare a maintenance plan for annual maintenance and repairs of you property, which is essential to maintain and increase the property's value
- project management; we can act as you local representative and manage any renovation or refurbishment. We will also advise on any value added measures which could further enhanse the capital growth of your property.
- lettings- we can assist you in the letting of you property and check in your tenants, deposit taking, checking out & inventory control.
Refer also to our webpage www.casapuglia.com.

We at team CasaPuglia look forward to hearing from you soon!