godzillavilla's activity

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After years of effort we are finally having to give up the dream of completing the villa, so it's up for sale. Most of the boring bits have been completed, it's the fun, pretty stuff left to do to make it habitable.

Mon, 10/08/2012 - 14:19

A friend and I recently traveled to my place in Scurtabo where we managed, with only a crowbar at our disposal, to remove all the revolting old ceilings.

Thu, 05/10/2012 - 07:50

I've just posted a full set of internal photos of our wreck of a villa so you can see the full extent of the job ahead of us. I'm sure some of you have been through this stage of things.

Wed, 03/07/2012 - 09:08

I've just posted a full set of internal photos of our wreck of a villa so you can see the full extent of the job ahead of us. I'm sure some of you have been through this stage of things.

Wed, 03/07/2012 - 09:08

http://wp.me/p1TZTg-4i Spaghetti Westerns: A post about the weird attraction of American-style rodeos in Italy.

Thu, 02/09/2012 - 17:59

A short blog entry about learning to live at an Italian pace; it seemed popular with other expats so I post it here for your entertainment! http://wp.me/p1TZTg-3z

Tue, 01/17/2012 - 23:07

http://www.warmboard.com/warmboard-explained/ I came across this product, which looks like a good alternative for infloor heating in all-wood floor construction (such as ou

Sun, 01/01/2012 - 13:45

A short blurb on a pretty amazing manifestation of Ligurian ingenuity; back in the 1980's, as their town was dying, the government of Varese Ligure had the bright idea to develop an entire organic territory, resulting in being the first valley to

Thu, 12/29/2011 - 15:07

Our first garden sculpture: the remains of our old roof! Added a piece of Rebar and an alms cup from a scrap of copper gutter and now we have an Angel http://wp.me/p1TZTg-1P

Mon, 12/12/2011 - 20:40

Visited the apartment we keep near Varese Ligure after a closure of several months (including most of summer) and found dozens of huge wasps, now dead from the cold. No sign of the nest. Chimney maybe? Anyone have experience with this?

Fri, 11/25/2011 - 18:26

Comments posted

Answer to: Dream For Sale
Thu, 11/01/2012 - 10:08

Thank you. I'm still writing actually - as you may have noticed - people wanted to hear about what went wrong and what they could learn from my own experience, so that's what I'm doing now. 

Answer to: Dream For Sale
Thu, 11/01/2012 - 10:07

Thanks. It just stopped making any kind of sense to keep pouring money into the place when it's easy enough to find alternatives, for the amount of time we are realistically going to spend in Italy (even in the future). Of course these projects are not about 'sense'! But for us, that eventually overcame the fun and adventure.

Mon, 05/14/2012 - 13:10

Thanks for all the input! Yes the particular guys who did my roof are really top-notch. 

Mon, 05/14/2012 - 13:09

Thanks for all the input! Yes the particular guys who did my roof are really top-notch. 

Fri, 05/11/2012 - 09:41

Whereabouts in Liguria? Wordpress is an easy platform to set up - although I did have some help from a techie friend at the beginning. Tumblr is good if you're planning more of a photo blog rather than words. Lots of people blogging about Italy and renos - check out comments on my blog and you'll find a lot of them. Makes for a lovely community.

Fri, 05/11/2012 - 09:38

Even now, with my monster project, I see other ruins and can't resist fantasizing about them. So much potential beauty mouldering away in the Italian hills!

Fri, 04/06/2012 - 21:26

Currently active in this community, you can send him a message if you want to get in direct contact. He helps people find houses in the area.

Fri, 04/06/2012 - 21:20

Sorry I usually try to be more welcoming but for a variety of reasons haven't been keeping up the past few weeks. And unfortunately I don't know anything about Puglia! Have you tried checking out the groups to see if there actually are community members around there? That'd be my first suggestion.

Sun, 04/01/2012 - 23:36

Yes that space might just be big enough to carry that off without making each room too tiny for a bed and wardrobe, that's a good idea. I agree it's nice to have some loo privacy.  Thanks!

Sun, 04/01/2012 - 23:34

Definitely learning patience. There's slow food, slow travel - and now I'm starting a slow renovation movement.