Alvito, Frosinone, Lazio, Italy

Casa Rossa is charming four storey townhouse in the heart of the historic centre of Alvito. The house offers a considerable amount of flexibility, with essentially three main living zones which can easily be sectioned and separated or integrated into one home.

The principal front door opens onto a hallway with access to the cantina below and the main floors above via a marble stairway with a wrought-iron balustrade. The main living-room and kitchen are on the first floor. The living room is generously proportioned with a high ceiling featuring a stile liberty (art nouveau) fresco decoration. This room has a fireplace and large south facing window.

The charming kitchen is beautifully decorated with ceramic tile and has, as well as all the amenities one would expect, an enclosed fireplace meaning cosy winter evenings cooking and chatting with family and friends but without the dust and draughts an open fire might bring.

On the upper floor are the two generous main bedrooms of the house both of which have full french door type windows allowing in plenty of light and air as well as views out across the rooftops of the town. Here too we find the main bathroom.

Also on this level and extending to the uppermost floor is a separate small apartment with kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom and access to the large roof terrace. Because of the slope of the land, it also has its own street entrance.

The roof terrace provides ample space for entertaining, dining or simply relaxing and taking the sun and has a sweeping view. It is as if one has a private box at nature's most magnificent opera house. The rooftops of medieval Alvito form terracotta tiers beneath one's feet and beyond lies a valley floor of magical Italian countryside dotted with fine old houses, terraced olive groves, vineyards and woodlands, gently rolling hills and scattered hamlets. This dreamlike landscape is embraced by towering mountains, snow topped in winter, the lower slopes of which are home to the other villages of the valle di Comino, each a jewel, each with unique food and folk traditions and at night the twinkling street lamps seem to float above the valley as if it is adorned with a most fantastical necklace of light.

Meanwhile, on the lowest floor, the cantina has been almost entirely and very carefully lined in timber, creating an elegant entertainment area, which features a well designed and functional kitchen area, a living area with a substantial fireplace, a bathroom and storage cave. This level has two entry doors with access to the street.

Some attention is required to one section of roof and the guttering certainly would benefit from replacement or repair. The house is said to be otherwise good condition.


ALVITO and the CIOCIARIA

Alvito is one of the major medieval hilltop 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 town itself is lively, with shops, restaurants and an extensive program of summer events, including open air cinema, theatre and concerts. It is also ideal for nature lovers, with a nearby lake and mountain national park, and extensive opportunities for hiking, riding, paragliding, outdoor yoga etc, as well as offering the opportunity to explore the many charming and historic hilltop towns of the area.

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 Alvito 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 favor 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 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, is one of the largest and most highly-regarded real estate agents in the area and has much experience in the international marketing of Italian real estate.