We bought a house in Tuscany

[@talesfromtuscany]

Hi Darren I just found your vlog and I too am just about to settle on an unseen house in Tuscany which I’ve bought during the lockdown, all the way from Australia! I bet you’re so excited about getting there, as are we! Best wishes…very cute puppy!

[@FosterGoodness]

Beautiful house! Best of luck building this home. I will follow your journey on your channel.

[@NepetaHouse]

Thank you!

[@maricelasarmiento5904]

Love this! Looking forward to more videos!

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks!

[@AprilLee-essence7]

my husband and i live in a villa in northern tuscany, and we (mostly he) did our own renovations. welcome to this beautiful area!

[@NepetaHouse]

Thank you! I've debated doing some of it myself, and I hope to do at least a bit of it. But I think the big jobs are out of my league right now!

[@belindahannaford1142]

Good luck with the project. Be safe 👍

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks, will do!

[@vickeyefremidis9234]

Omg that pup is so sweet … congratulations, on all your new beginnings ✨

[@megaroninyc]

My sister is friend’s with Carrie Schonwald and shared this with me, very cool! Congratulations

[@NepetaHouse]

Thank you!

[@danielhealy7225]

Great introduction, I live in Southern Switzerland and am in love with Tuscany and will be buying a place there in 2022. Looking forward to see this works for you guys.

[@NepetaHouse]

Very cool! We love the area too. We've been wanting to visit Switzerland for awhile. Part of our hope is driving from Berlin, stopping in Switzerland on the way, and then heading down to our house. If you do buy a place, send me an email (its on my KZbin profile, I think). I have several people who are doing similar things and we've been sharing tips and things we've learned. Good luck!

[@indirajane]

So excited to see what you do with the house!

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks! I look forward to sharing.

[@Bmhanes]

Hi Darren! I'm one of D's friends from way back in her GW grad school days. I was so intrigued when she posted about this adventure you two are on with this new house in Tuscany. I would love to live vicariously through your experience as you begin to renovate. I'm so excited for both of you! I'm sure this will be a ton of work, but I can only imagine the reward of having a beautiful mountain getaway will be more than worth it. Good luck and please keep posting!

[@NepetaHouse]

Hello! Thank you for the kind words. We're certainly excited about the possibilities (and a bit nervous about the cost/amount of work). Either way, it'll be an adventure and thanks for following along!

[@philipkrape789]

Darren, Good intro, lotsa luck on the project and hope to see you (in person in Italia or anyplace else for that matter) before I'm senile (cute dog too) tschüss! Dein Vater

[@NepetaHouse]

Dankeschön!

[@lieuwina]

I wish you the very best in your new adventure. Looking forward to see the renovations. Greetings from Cambridgeshire UK.

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks!

[@heman1402]

Wonderful property. Best of luck to you

[@NepetaHouse]

Thank you!

[@paulaloomes7926]

Hi Darren, love these videos. Just wondering when you will create another one with your progress. Would love to see what you have done to the property so far.

[@NepetaHouse]

I've been meaning to record an update. Maybe I'll get it this weekend... I can say this: Not much new has happened with the house, but we are making progress on the planning. With some luck, we may start actual renovations this spring.

[@janicedelp2775]

Hi, Darren! I'm already excited to follow the progress on restoring your house in Tuscany. It looks extremely promising. Good luck! Janice from USA.

[@NepetaHouse]

Thank you!

[@veronicataylorsfp]

I'm so glad the KZbin algorithm recommended your video! I'm also following Not Useless Yet (as many others have commented), and I'm doing a very similar project myself. I'm based in London, but converting a small barn into a residential home in Northern Tuscany. My property is near Aulla, so I *think* we are all kind of in the same area give or take. I'm very much looking forward to following your journey!

[@NepetaHouse]

We are avid fans of Not Useless Yet. He was most certainly an inspiration for us and partly how we discovered this area of Northern Italy. We also looked at a few properties near Aulla. It is a beautiful area and being close to Cinque Terra is a lovely perk. Good luck on your project too!

[@RoseBornagain]

@@NepetaHouse I hope you vist Tellaro cute place near Lerici.

[@marciku278]

The house looks sweet!…looking forward to the remodeling…best of luck!…the dog is also sooo sweet!…🥰

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks! He's a handful sometimes, but certainly is cute too!

[@adellaharbar4262]

Hi Darren... I stumbled on your vlog by accident and I'm so pleased! Really look forward to seeing the journey that you and your wife have undertaken with the renovation of your Tuscan house! Thanks for detailing your journey in this your first vlog and as for your puppy; oh my... he is so gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing your next vlog!

[@NepetaHouse]

Thank you and hope you enjoy the journey!

[@udayjakkal]

Best wishes to you as well as to your family; for the wonderful journey of renovation.....looking forward for the renovation/restoration videos...and best wishes.

[@cambbrown6205]

Really enjoy renovations. Looking forward to seeing yours unfold. All the best from Kent, England:-)

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks!

[@rachelolivas4775]

Wow this home looks like it's going to be absolutely beautiful, can't wait to see it all come together 😊

[@NepetaHouse]

Thank you!

[@carolranes91]

Go for it love the puppy I have black cocker spaniel!

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks! Next video will have more of the pets too.

[@sharileeengle5204]

Hello from Idaho, USA. Looking forward to seeing your upcoming videos.

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks for following!

[@Xtramedium1961]

Looking forward to following your exploits, best of luck from Dublin Ireland

[@NepetaHouse]

Thank you!

[@chrisarranaga8084]

congrats to you!

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks!

[@mharrisona5526]

Hi! These are hopeful times as it seems we may be working our way out of covid’s stubborn grip! I look forward to following your story. The mountain vista from your place is absolutely incredible! Just a couple of weeks ago I closed (remotely) on an ancient townhouse down in Salento. I can hardly stand the wait to get over there in September, see it in person and get involved with the renovation😃. Best wishes to you and yours on this exciting adventure.

[@NepetaHouse]

Hello! Indeed, we're super excited for things to start opening up and the numbers going down. Congratulations on your purchase. We saw our place last summer, but ended up having to close remotely as well due to lock-downs. Salento looks beautiful. Good luck on your renovations!

[@mharrisona5526]

@@NepetaHouse btw, our architect says we may benefit from a portion of the 110 eco bonus. Worth investigating if you haven’t already👍🏻

[@rosienaturegirl1385]

So excited to watch your dream home journey unfold! Super adorable ending, too! Love, Tiffany (D's Seattle doula friend)

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks for following along! Certainly will be an adventure!

[@ruthw3244]

Hello! Can’t wait to see your vision for your new house. I have been in the area just as a tourist and also fell in love with it! I too follow Not Useless Yet . He has a big project ,and as another subscriber mentioned ,has a lot of challenges to getting his place in livable condition. Good luck. And your puppy is super sweet. I shall check back on your progress.

[@NepetaHouse]

Not Useless Yet has been an inspiration for us, and we've been really enjoying his return! We're a bit envious that his was in somewhat livable condition to start with. I'll probably post a virtual tour this weekend, which will include some our house's "low-lights", including the collapsing roof. I'll tell my puppy he's super sweet for you. :)

[@stevethepiper]

Looking forward to your adventure. I have been following a couple people that had done similar things and it is something I too am interested in doing.

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks! Hopefully you can learn from the many mistakes I'm sure we'll make on our process!

[@jennywelsh8985]

Good luck on your new journey.

[@undergroundgarage]

Great stuff man. Definitely a dream of mine. I'm staying to watch the progress. All the bes from Bonn!

[@shuhubrafik1411]

Bought a house, barns attached in Tuscany 30 years ago ,on a huge plot of land ,from ruins to a dream and a lot of money 😁

[@NepetaHouse]

Very cool! Yup, should be exciting… and expensive 😬

[@myitalyhouserenovationunde6254]

Wow. I have a twin...😄😁 in misery that is. Two years into the same journey and still not going anywhere... Also in Northern Tuscany. Pontremoli

[@jamesmorris3747]

looking forward to the restoration videos

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks!

[@seeingyouontube]

Thanks for sharing! I’ve got some big questions. What did you pay for the ruin? Are you an American? How much land is included? What real estate agent did you use to help you find the places you looked at? Best of luck in your journey.

[@NepetaHouse]

Happy to answer. We're American, but live in Germany. We paid about €63k, plus another €8k in closing costs (taxes, real estate fees, notario fees, and some more bits). There isn't too much land, but that was intentional. We don't want to be spending too much time having to maintain the property when we visit. We used Roy Santi (www.housesintuscany.com), though he sort of came with the house since we found it on his website. My understanding is, in Italy, you typically don't have both seller and buyer agents, you have one agent who's the intermediary. Also, I would recommend Roy. He has an office right in Barga and was very helpful through the somewhat painful purchase process (the seller had some legal issues that took ages to resolve).

[@ciaram4907]

Best of luck with your new adventure in Tuscany, really looking forward to the virtual tour. Like others here I follow Not Useless Yet, a really lovely guy with a nice way about him. I'm at the buying process myself ...it's long, slow + frustrating but I'm being patient. Have you looked into the government sceme called the 'Superbonus' for renovating?

[@NepetaHouse]

We're avid fans of Not Useless Yet. He was one of our primary inspirations for this little adventure of ours. I wish I was so handy! We've been talking with our architect about the Superbonus and we should qualify for quite a number of subsidies, which should help (roof, windows/doors, heating system, seismic improvements, etc.). Once I get a bit more into it, I'll share our learnings. Also, on the buying process, I can completely relate. Our seller took *ages* to get his paperwork in order, which was very frustrating. Our agent said it was one of the longest closings he's had to deal with, but I get the sense almost everyone has some hitch with the purchase. I just imagine that, when our place is done, we'll barely remember the pain. At least, that's the hope!

[@janeingram7331]

Ooh, how exciting to have a new vlogger. I used Berlin as a location in one of my novels, so know a bit about it, at least the WWII part. I've never been there though many trips to Frankfurt and Munich, Heidelburg, Treir. Walked in Tuscany from Pisa to Sienna. Did visit Luca, but had to leave. The dust was extraordinary. Must have been a marble digging day. All the best, Jane, Philadelphia

[@NepetaHouse]

There most certainly has been a lot of history here. Lovely now thankfully. Also, I went to school in Philadelphia, so many fond memories!

[@videovedo36]

Hey there, good luck with your beautiful adventure! There is a channel, called Not Useless Yet, of a british guy living in Innsbruck with his german wife and little kids: they bought a semi-derelict house I believe around the very same area in Tuscany as yours (he's a little bit further north, though), and he (admittedly in a midlife crisis' need to prove himself "not useless yet" :)) !) is doing almost all the work himself too, on weekends and vacation time. I think you could find his channel very interesting as it's basically very similar to what you're going to do with yours and it has created a little community who follow his improvements and share advices and opinions. You could exchange know hows, tips, and stuff like that. Looking forward to the virtual and non virtual tour soon. ;) (pardon my English, I'm italian).

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks! Not Useless Yet is a big inspiration for us, and we've been avidly watching his channel since nearly the start. We've been *super* impressed with his DIY work. We live too far away to visit that regularly and a lot of the immediate work on our house is well beyond my abilities (such as replacing the roof), so I'm not sure our videos will be quite so exciting. Nonetheless, I hope people enjoy our journey and maybe learn from our mistakes!

[@ralphalfiehughes]

Darren hi... hope all is going well with your self and the property...I've just brought a property in Barga myself and would love to communicate with you Regards Ralph

[@NepetaHouse]

Hey! Barga is great, and I love the area. I think my email is on my profile. Look forward to connecting! Been meaning to do an update for awhile. Basically, we’ve been having trouble getting a contractor, but hoping we’ll get one in the next month or so.

[@christinehochgenug4632]

Is your dog a Tibetan Terrier?? Good luck and looking forward to your adventure!☺️

[@NepetaHouse]

Thanks! He's a Havenese, though he does look *a lot* like a Tibetan Terrier.

[@sfvanplateringen]

Congratulations! Amazing project! Im from the Netherlands and am househunting as well, in the countryside around Florence. Can i ask if you guys used a mortgage on the house? We are trying but its quite difficult as a foreigner :)

[@NepetaHouse]

Thank you! The countryside around Florence is beautiful, so I can see the appeal. We did not use a mortgage, largely because the house is in pretty rough shape, which made it relatively affordable (~€60k). We're hoping the Superbonus program will help keep renovation costs down as well, though these costs are a big question mark right now. Good luck with your search!

[@perolagrande]

If you can't afford it without a mortgage, best not to do it.

[@alexandra6864]

I don’t know how far along you are on your restoration, but I would really encourage you to try to restore the windows instead of replacing them. Replacement windows are more that often much lower quality than the old windows. You will likely have to replace the replacements in 20 years time. Old wood is much stronger than new wood, no trees grown now grows as strong as the old trees were.

[@NepetaHouse]

Hello Alexandra, We haven't started the renovation work yet, but hoping so early this year. On the windows, the ones there are largely rotten through or broken beyond repair. Additionally, they are very old single-pane, so quite inefficient. My plan is to have a local craftsperson build new chestnut ones using a traditional style (but double-paned). We've seen his work on other houses, and they are absolutely stunning.

[@sylvievicenza179]

Have you watch Not Useless Yet on KZbin. He has a similar journey which is so interesting.

[@NepetaHouse]

Hello! Yup, we're avid watchers of Not Useless Yet. He's one of our top sources for inspiration. :)

[@maryannvalenoti319]

Who’s the puppy?

[@NepetaHouse]

That’s our little Moro 😀

[@michelles2299]

My friend lives in Barga she built a house there I think it's an earthquake zone

[@NepetaHouse]

Barga is very nice (we'll be staying there in August). Yup, it is an earthquake area, so we'll have to do seismic reinforcing to the house.

[@AfricanSouthernCross]

Puppy comes before your “kiddy” …..typical of a Brit to put an animal before his child, the Italians would agree with that sentiment……🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jimmytwizzle7836]

If you want to listen to a load of waffle then this is the video for you. I switched off.

[@01crs1]

First step: don't have kids 😂