Buy real estate in Tuscany … about the region

Why do so many of us want to buy property in Tuscany? Ask a foreigner to paint a picture of Italy and it will probably emerge looking something like this beautiful region of central Italy. Stone farmhouses sit atop rolling green hills, gazing down upon a land cultivated since Roman times. Lines of cypresses break the horizon, while serried rows of grapevines and olive groves bear witness to the fecundity of the Tuscan soil. Population is clustered in hamlets that date back to the early Middle Ages, in walled mediaeval hill towns, and in stunning Renaissance cities such as Lucca, Pisa, Florence and Siena.

Tuscany was the cradle of the Renaissance, with masters such as Piero della Francesca, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli living and painting here — the Tuscan hills crop up frequently in the works hanging in galleries such as Florence’s Uffizi. Writers such as Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio studied and wrote here. And Tuscany produces some of the world’s best food and wine — the Chianti region being a shrine for oenophiles. In fact, this could be a paradise on earth … so why not buy a home in Tuscany?

Why purchase real estate in Tuscany?

This happy marriage of town and country is what makes Tuscany work for British and American property seekers. When we’re looking for real estate for sale in Italy, we may want to get away from it all, but we still want access to roads, airports, shops … a little civilisation. Tuscany provides this. You can live in perfect tranquility in your mountain hideaway in the Garfagnana, or your restored farmhouse in Chianti yet still be a car ride from the supermarket, the beach, or indeed from the very chic shopping streets of Lucca or Siena.

A look at the history of Tuscany explains why it has emerged as such an appealing place for people to relocate to. The name of the region derives from the ancient inhabitants, the Etruscans (their lands were known as Etruria). Not much is known about them, with their language and civilisation brutally expunged by the all-conquering Romans, but they did found the towns of Fiesole, Cortona and Arezzo. Buy a home in the moodily atmospheric town of Volterra and you are living where the Etruscans lived millennia ago.

Florence, Siena, Lucca and Pisa

Roman policy was to colonise new lands by building towns settled by army veterans. Such a town was Florentia, founded by Julius Caesar in 59BC. It was to grow into Florence, Tuscany’s major town. The Romans also founded Siena, Lucca and Pisa — important trading towns then and now. With the fragmentation of the Empire, these cities evolved into city states.

The Middle Ages saw a bewildering series of internecine wars between the increasingly rich cities of Florence, Siena and Lucca. The Papacy, the aristocracy, the merchant class and the people all vied for power, with loyalties and alliances shifting with baffling speed. The cities were largely ruled by the big merchant and banking families (the Medici in Florence being a famous example), who bankrolled the wars and the arts — their patronage allowing the flowering of talent that was to become known as the Renaissance.

Real estate in Tuscany today

What does this mean to anyone looking at real estate for sale in Tuscany today? Several things. These cities became city states early on; they have all the infrastructure, the social cohesion, the traditions that came with having to be, effectively, a little country, and they established these early on. And they walled themselves in, in defence against marauding neighbours (and from the Goths, Lombards, Franks and others who sought to pillage the riches of wealthy Tuscany).

Today Lucca, for instance, doesn’t need to worry about invasion from Florence, but it is left as a complete mediaeval city, with churches, cathedrals, homes, shops, squares and gardens in place, and unspoiled by the 21st century (or a few centuries before that). Everything is within walking distance, and the food and wine are produced in the farmlands around. It has the antique architecture you’re looking for in Italian property for sale, and it is picturesquely sheltered by a monolithic mediaeval wall. Nowhere do history and modern comforts sit so well together as in Tuscany.

Ruined farmhouse in Chianti?

Of course, such a civilised land doesn’t come cheaply. And if you are looking for a substantial ruined farmhouse to restore in Chianti, then think again. The available stocks were refurbished three decades ago, and there are (thankfully) stringent planning restrictions in place to prevent inappropriate building in the area. But don’t give up and move on to Bulgaria or Slovakia just yet. Think a little laterally and you’ll find real estate for sale in Tuscany at a price you can afford.

If you want to buy a property in Tuscany and you want value you’re likely to be looking at a derelict building, or at the very least one that needs a lot of work. Recent properties on the market included a ’liveable’ three-bedroom house in Casola, in the Lunigiana region in northern Tuscany, at €107,000. Or how about a derelict mediaeval terraced house in the village of Gragnola, in the same area of Tuscany. With complete refurbishment required (all you’re buying is the very solid, very beautiful 500-year-old facade, you’d need to spend €70,000 or so to create your dream home — but with a sale price of just €60,000, it still looks a very good deal.

In fact, with the madness of UK property prices, even a €500,000, ready-to-move-into farm in the heartland of Tuscany begins to look a little more affordable. And don’t forget that once you buy and renovate your property in Tuscany, there are plenty of opportunities to offset your costs, in the shape of holiday lets, developing outbuildings as apartments and so forth.

Tuscany transport and communications

This is where the region really scores. For anyone wanting to buy a villa, farm or apartment in Tuscany, the proximity of the motorway network and major airports is a huge bonus. It can make an Italian development property a reality as a holiday home, can increase its attractiveness for holiday lets in Tuscany, and it can allow you to nip back when you’re missing the home country. Florence and Pisa are both major airports, with Pisa undergoing further expansion. Ryanair flies into Pisa, so it could be worth investing in a €10 ticket back to London just to stock up on teabags!

Coming to Tuscany? You'll need a hotel.

We're happy to steer you toward ahotelinitaly.com for instant booking of thousands of hotels all across Italy. From the section on hotels in Tuscany, the following links will take you directly to local and city listings:

Chianciano Terme hotels / Cortona hotels / Florence hotels / Forte dei Marmi hotels / Lido di Camaiore hotels / Lucca hotels/ Montecatini Terme hotels / Pisa hotels / San Gimignano hotels / Siena hotels/ Viareggio hotels

Tuscan food and wine

One of the delights for those who buy property in Tuscany is the cuisine. It’s nothing fancy — Tuscany is all about the freshest, seasonal ingredients brought quickly to the table with minimum preparation. Peasant fare such as crostini and bruschetta now grace the dinner tables of London as much as Lucca — how could anybody be this creative with a piece of toast, a swish of garlic and a drizzle of olive oil? Hearty, simple soups are concocted from colourful mixtures of beans, and the white cannelini beans are a dish in themselves, simply dressed with olive oil.

Cuts of meat are served plain, grilled, and sprinkled with fresh herbs, and there’s an extraordinary choice. Beef, pork and chicken are there of course, but so might be guinea fowl, rabbit, wild boar … even porcupine. There are deliciously sticky desserts, panforte and meltingly good macaroons and then there is the wine. Chianti Classico, Montepulciano, Montalcino … the list goes on and on.