Vicalvi, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy

"La Contessina" is an elegant country house, with a guest house and a swimming pool, in a quiet and tranquil setting only a short drive to town.

Originally a traditional stone farmhouse, now restored into an attractive modern home, the living area revolves around a huge glassed in verandah. The verandah is equipped with double shatterproof thermal glass, and floored with antique terracotta tiles. From here you can reach the kitchen, which has a fireplace and an old wood-burning oven with refractory bricks, as well as an antique terracotta hob, and Vietri ceramics throughout. There is direct access from the kitchen to both the verandah and the garden, as well as the other parts of the house. Also on the ground floor, there is a smaller living room, a study or extra bedroom, a bathroom and a laundry.

The upper floor has two bedrooms and a bathroom. Above that, the attic has had another two bedrooms and a bathroom installed.

Up by the gates, there is another small, two storey building, which the current owners rented out as "La Contessina holiday home". and its layout includes a living area with kitchenette and a bathroom, a mezzanine floor with double bed, and a bathroom.

The generous swimming pool, 20 meters long and 4 meters wide, with a depth of up to 2.80 meters and a diving board, is edged with Trani stone. There is a changing room with outdoor shower in the pool area. The barbecue area is adjacent to the house, with a paved courtyard. The whole outdoor area is completely fenced, the fences hidden in decorative (but thorny) pyracantha hedges. The property is dotted with olive trees.

Nearby Sora is a major administrative centre, and the charming and buzzy towns of Alvito, Fontechiari, Atina, San Donato VdC and Picinisco, as well as the beautiful lake of Posta Fibreno, are all within easy reach.


Energy classification: F


VICALVI, ALVITO AND THE CIOCIARIA

Vicalvi and its neighbouring town, Alvito, are among the many enchanting medieval towns in the area of Italy called the Ciociaria, the name given to the fertile land that lies south of Rome but north of Naples, situated inland in the hills in the heart of Italy. The Ciociaria region is within easy reach of both Rome and Naples and their respective airports. A day's shopping in Rome is a common pastime, while an even shorter drive brings you to the charming beaches south of Rome. Alternatively, drive east, and the mountains of the Abruzzo National Park await with horse trekking in the magnificent beech forests, and sparkling mountain lakes and rivers where you can swim in the heat of the summer. And at the other extreme of temperature, although Vicalvi itself is temperate, less than an hour's drive brings you to the winter ski slopes.

Often overlooked, both by tourists and by those foreigners in search of an Italian home, in favour of the more publicized regions of Tuscany and Umbria, the Ciociaria remains largely an unspoilt gem with beautiful scenery and medieval hilltop towns. A home or second home in the Ciociaria, in the hilltop towns of Alvito, Arpino, Veroli, Alatri or in the rolling countryside that surrounds them, will afford you a setting where over two thousand years of history combine with an idyllic rural Italian lifestyle, where you can still discover the 'real' Italy and take time out from the busy crowds of the larger tourist cities, while being only 90 to 120 minutes minutes journey from central Rome or either of Rome's two airports.


VIA ROMANA Srls and CASE & CASALI REAL ESTATE AGENCY

Via Romana Srls is an Italian-incorporated company owned by a British/Australian Chartered Accountant and her photographer daughter, and offers a package of services to facilitate all aspects of the purchase and restoration of Italian property by overseas clients. The Via Romana team works in collaboration with various fully-licensed Italian real estate agencies including Case & Casali Real Estate Agency represented by Sig. Ciro Tomei. Sig. Tomei has been enrolled in the register of real estate agents at the Chamber of Commerce in Frosinone, Lazio since 2007 and has much experience in the international marketing of Italian real estate.