Macerata, Macerata, Le Marche, Italy

Scialla. It's what you're hoping to do in Le Marche, without even knowing what the word means! It's slang for "chill out", "relax" or "take it easy". So, a very useful word, indeed! There's a simple, bright and cheerful house in the tranquil countryside just minutes from the center of the provincial capital city of Macerata that has a surprising array of desirable characteristics that will allow you to become an expert in the art of "scialla". We call this unique Marche property "CASA SCIALLA".

***be sure to watch the Casa Scialla video tour***

Casa Scialla lives up to its name. It's located in a peaceful, tranquil corner of the "Maceratese", the rolling countryside surrounding the provincial capital city of the same name, a city known for culture, art, opera, food and wine - all those sorts of things that make it easy, to take it easy. This idea of living in the quiet peaceful countryside with a choice of 100 places to eat and lots of events to attend all year long is something we find very appealing and hard to find. A country location just a few minutes, literally, from a provincial capital is very, very unique. More on Macerata a bit later.

Casa Scialla is a simple, unpretentious and cheerful house. It's surprisingly big at around 280 sqm. (attic included). It has a carport and 2 sizable outbuildings that add 150 sqm. and lots of upside and added value to the property. There have been a number of major works and upgrades done to the house and there are a number of "sustainable" characteristics as well, all of which we will describe.

Starting with the exterior, Casa Scialla is an eclectic mix of brick types and rendered plaster. It's funky. The owners have a couple of architectural renderings that show how the exterior could be done in a more uniform color, perhaps more appealing look for you if eclectic is not your thing. While the floors of the house are connected via an internal staircase, the old traditional external staircase was preserved in the restoration and now serves as a sort of terrace. Underneath this staircase is a classic, vintage bread/pizza oven that's a sight to behold. At the back of the house there's a pergola for shade that can be accessed from several points on the ground floor.

Moving inside at Casa Scialla you are immediately struck by the natural light, courtesy of the big windows and doors, and the sense of openness and freshness. There's also a whimsical touch as one of the owners is an artist and sculptor and many of his pieces give the house a touch of color and cheer. The ground floor tiles are terracotta. The walls are whitewashed. The ground floor has a lounge area that moves seamlessly to a dining room with a really big glass door...from there you head OUTSIDE to the pergola for seasonal dining and relaxation, or, INSIDE to the kitchen, a simple, colorful, casual country kitchen that even has a fireplace.
Everything about this floor urges you to chill-out and take it easy. It's super livable. There is also a full bathroom on this floor and a big laundry/utility and technical room.

You transit to the first floor via a floating, industrial-look staircase. This deposits you at a landing, used as office space by the owners that also exits to the external staircase. From this landing and corridor you find 3 bedrooms. All are spacious and bright and all have insect screens in the windows. The entire first floor has graniglia tiles - a type of retro/vintage tile that came of age in the 60s and 70s that has made a strong comeback in fashionable palazzo restorations. Also on this floor is a vintage-look bathroom with shower and a WC (that can be extended to include a shower if desired). From here, you head up to the large attic space where you find some great storage space and some other nice features as well, all of which mean that Casa Scialla is ideal for full-time, year-round living or for holiday home and rental use.

We mentioned earlier that Casa Scialla boasts a number of upgrades and sustainable features. Fully restored nearly 20 years ago, the works included foundation works, a new roof and the IGLU system which is an underfloor system that promotes airflow to alleviate rising damp and that provides thermal insulation. Casa Scialla is that rare house that has insulation in the roof, the foundation AND the walls. This very high level of insulation is coupled with photo-volt panels that produce electricity for domestic use with excess production going into the power grid, paying you for that excess production! The photo-volt inverters are located in the attic. The house also runs on a new (5 year old) condensation boiler providing heat and hot water. In addition, as an adjunct or shoulder-season option, there is a thermal fireplace, the one in the kitchen, designed to throw off massive amounts of heat. AND, Casa Scialla has a natural water source...drinking water and irrigation water come from a 35m deep well, with the filtered drinking water testing to very high safety levels. All of these features, from the structure to the sustainability, offer you peace-of-mind and result in low bills and high autonomy - all keys to taking it easy and chilling-out in your Marche home!

Moving back outside, the plot is a perfectly manageable 2,500 sqm. It's completely private, flat and green, with lawn space, fruit trees and lots of low-maintenance plantings ideally suited to the micro-climate. The plot is able to easily accommodate a pool. Access is about as good as it gets. You enter the plot via an automatic gate framed by two spectacular "Roman pines"...the entrance sits along a provincial road that whisks you to Macerata and all other points, so there are no white roads or unending winding lanes to get to the house and your road maintenance costs are ZERO.

The views at Casa Scialla are pleasant and bucolic, with rolling hills and green fields. The outbuildings, currently used for utility and storage purposes, can be put to future use as spaces dedicated to a tourism business if that's something you'd like to try.

Coming back to location, Casa Scialla is truly unique in that it takes you in a few short minutes from a bucolic country location to the center of a provincial capital city. Macerata has loads of places to eat and to have a drink and a good time. It's also a cultural hub with something always going on. The restaurants range from the traditional to the super-contemporary and even include an authentic Chinese dumpling house run by an ex-Italian football star who played in China!! The Sferisterio summer outdoor opera festival is a spectacle that can't be missed.

In addition to its proximity to the centro storico, Casa Scialla is 10 minutes from major shopping areas...10 minutes to a train line...10+ minutes to the east/west SS77 Superstrada taking you to the coast and Umbria...20 minutes to the north/south A14 Autostrada...25 minutes to the Adriatic coast...35 minutes to the Sibillini Mountains national park...40 minutes to the Ancona Airport (other airports - 1:10 to Perugia, 1:20 to Pescara, 2:30 to Rome, 2:45 to Bologna)...dozens of hilltop towns are close-by as well. A better, more varied, more central location is very hard to find.

So, we've found you your place to live a Scialla lifestyle in Le Marche - welcome to Casa Scialla!