My husband and I decided to buy a home in Tuscany in 2021 and we haven’t looked back since. The decision came during the pandemic and realizing how quickly life changes. One day everything’s normal and the next day, it’s not.
When we traveled, we always went to Europe, and more specifically western Europe. We always spoke about wanting a home there for “the future” because we loved the culture. A culture that works to live, a culture where food and wine is art and art is life. Where time enjoying life and enjoying it with family and friends comes first. So when the pandemic hit, we decided that when the borders opened up again, we would do it. Because look how quickly life can change and a dream could disappear.
Another factor in making the decision was watching shows like House Hunters International and Mediterranean Life. Where you would hear tragic stories of what led to the decision of someone taking this type of jump, and I said “I don’t want the decision of buying a house in Europe to come out of tragedy. I want it to come out of joy, to celebrate it and enjoy it”.
So, we began to search.
How did we end up in the Pisan Hills? Well that was probably the easiest part of the decision. We brought it down to four countries of the ones we had been to, of which the culture spoke to us: France, Italy and Switzerland. We also put Spain in the mix because I’m of Spanish background and can speak the language, so we thought transition wise it would be easy. Well, Switzerland almost immediately left the mix because of its high cost of living. Spain then left the mix because I had not been there and when we started searching properties, it just wasn’t calling me.
So, we were left with France and Italy which in reality were the two countries we had visited the most. We loved the beauty, culture and history of the countries. We were drawn to the people and had friends in both countries. Speaking honestly, I was team France and my husband was team Italy, and the searches began. When it came to real estate, house for house, dollar value to dollar value, Italy kept winning. In terms of best location, best house, best views, Italy was better for us. We found that what you get in Italy for the money would cost you almost twice as much in France.
So, as much as I then wanted France, I couldn’t make a case for it when we looked at all around value. Well then which part of Italy…. Well, we knew we didn’t want to be in a big city (being that we live in a relatively big city now, we wanted something different, more low-key) but, we wanted a location that was relatively easy to get to and had access to big cities if we wanted it and would be a great base to exploring other parts of the country and Europe. And we wanted a location where there was plenty to do and lots to discover.
Behold, Tuscany. A region where wine is king and towns and villages are built up on to hills, so the views are always fantastic.
Now, Tuscany is huge and has many territories, so how did we come into the Pisan Hills? Well, when we started our initial search we looked all over, from Lucca to Florence and from Val D’Orcia to the Pisan Hills and everything in between. We loved Lucca, but the actual town is expensive and being north of it meant being into the mountains and we thought it a mission to get in and out of for everyday life. We love Florence, but the city and it’s surrounding areas are just really expensive (and that includes the region of Chianti where the price is built on being in Chianti).
When we finally got cleared to travel in 2021, we focused our search in southern Tuscany by Val D’Orcia and the Pisan Hills. In the matter of three days we viewed around 15 houses in both areas. It was tough because both areas are beautiful and each are close to big cities and have access to other areas of Italy and can easily access other parts of Europe (whether it be trains, driving, etc.). But the final decision came because I fell in love with the house we bought and the village it was in. Everything about it spoke to us. A beautiful home, priced just right, needing little work, with beautiful views of the Tuscan hills, in a perfect little quintessential Tuscan village with the perfect amount of warm, lovely people , having all the essentials and amenities you need for everyday life. Located in the middle of Tuscany with amazing vineyards all around and access to so many more places to discover. It was perfect.
And so we have fallen in love with the Pisan Hills and always are in awe every time we get to “go home”.
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