Sora, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy

Casa Giovene is an elegant home in the heart of the historic centre of Fontechiari, a few steps from the main Church of San Giovanni. A large living room with marble floors and fireplace, a beautiful eat-in kitchen, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and the laundry have been fully restored. The top floor 'piano nobile', which requires some modernisation, has a further grand salon, entertaining kitchen, two further reception rooms, a bedroom with ensuite bathroom, and a guest w.c.

The building, one of the most important historic buildings of Fontechiari, has been divided on inheritance between a number of members of the same family, who have now decided to sell. Much of it has been fully and beautifully restored in an elegant and classic style.

There is a large (40 m2) living room, fully restored with marble flooring throughout, including a fireplace in pink French marble, and two balconies, one overlooking the old town, the other with a view out over the valley; and another salon of the same size on the piano nobile, with a painted ceiling, a fine marble fireplace, and antique tiles, with French doors opening onto a balcony overlooking the valley.

The main kitchen, next to the living room with the marble floor, is in fitted wood and also has a marble floor. There is a further serviceable kitchen for entertaining beside the grand salon with the painted ceiling - this kitchen also opens through an unusual pantry carved into the old walls of the building onto the balcony overlooking the valley.

The fully restored section has a bedroom with a private balcony overlooking the valley, and a large bathroom on the main floor, and on the floor above what were originally two guest bedrooms and a bathroom, all with valley views, are currently a bedroom, large dressing room and bathroom. Another bedroom (for modernisation) overlooks the valley, and has an ensuite bathroom. Two of the bathrooms are attractive and modern; the third bathroom and guest w.c. on the top floor are very dated, and would benefit from being redone.

There are also very large storage rooms at ground level.

There are a number of balconies, and at the back of the building a garden, which is now technically a park belonging to the city, but which is in practice mostly used only by the family.

There is also a guest/staff apartment available by separate sale. It has a large living room with a galley kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom - all the rooms have vaulted stone ceilings (currently painted, but this could be cleaned off to reveal the old stone).

Energy Classification: E (for the fully restored section)


THE CIOCIARIA

Fontechiari is 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 the towns of the Ciocaria are 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 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 less than ninety 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.