RENOVATING A RUIN: Buying & Restoring a Castle in Italy (Episode 43)

This episode I'm sharing someone else's experience of renovating in Italy with the beautiful abandoned property in the village of Trequanda: Castello Cacciaconti. I speak with some Americans who fell in love with this historic place in Tuscany and decided to take on the monumental challenge of restoring a castle and transform it into a celebration of food, music and visual art. Hope you enjoy.
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[angelicab]

What an amazing castle. I hope they can recreate the magic there.

[christine]

Preserving and renovating the history and beauty of these places is so important and the fact that it is in relatively decent condition after sitting empty for a quarter of a century is a testament to the craftsmanship and materials used. Bravo to these people dedicated to this project.

[rowandowland]

Kylie, thank you. We sat at our kitchen table in Tremezzina drinking herbal tea wiping tears from our eyes as we listened to your conversation with Jim & Vincent. Moving to Italy isn’t always easy but here we certainly do live with beauty and a sense of humanity that we’d lost back in Australia. Our dream is to one day create a group of older people who can develop a co-housing community in a charming Italian Villa somewhere in the countryside. Who wants to grow old in some kind of sterile age care facility when you can live a full life with a small community of like minded people who appreciate the beauty of Italy and its culture. I’m sure there must be others out there for whom this style of living must also appeal. Vincent’s comments about the importance of beauty being one of the most important things to live with in life were just so lovely.

[marycamilleri]

Wow what an amazing place. So loved listening to their hopes and dreams of restoring this truly beautiful castle. Please follow this inspiring journey and share it with us all. X

[mariafusco]

Kylie, I am so impressed with how they thought through the process of even approaching such an overwhelming renovation by listening to the people, allowing their love of visual and performing arts to shape their vision, and then to peacefully settle into the business of building support for the project. It will be a wonderful adventure to see it take shape. I wish them success in every step of the way!

[lynnmitchell]

Renovations on a property this size and complexity is indeed a labor of love! Hopefully, the investors will think about putting in apartments that will be available to not only foreigners but too Italians as well. Thus making the space available to those willing to invest their time fostering and building community in this little village. This allows the local population to be involved in the development of their community making it welcome and hospitable to all!!

[moiragoldsmith]

Thank goodness for such souls who wish to restore and preserve glorious buildings. Wishing you well in your endeavours. 🤞💕🙏

[leonardniamh]

They have done such a beautiful job with the small house

[nicolescott]

I love how time has weathered away places and spaces but echoes of thier soul still remain if you choose to listen and be present even through the lens. Wow such an amazing story and hoping they keep some of the old with the new. Its a huge undertaking though im glad there are 4 heads to bounce ideas off.

It always inspires me the energy of Italy and now I'm on my trip here I always feel at home. Will feel a new energy in Trieste tomorrow and then will feel the romantic of Florence on Wednesday 😊 thank you for bringing your light into this epic space of historic time ❤ xxxx

[deniseblackman]

I’m from Seattle too! I love this project. We used to travel around when we first visited but now we usually hunker down in a town for weeks. It’s so beautiful, like living in a breathing museum. I love what Vincent said about the difference between USA and Italy-spot on.

[carolequesnel]

The castle appears to have excellent bones, amazing structure, and is just waiting to be restored. What a wonderful project, blessings to these men and their wives and team their commitment is palpable and one can already envision the castle once restored. Please continue to show the progress, this is delightful to watch !!!!

[BridgetsAnimalHouse]

This is so wonderful. I see the beauty in ruins. It’s like the ruins are crying for someone to see their potential and hope that someone comes along to undertake restoration.

[michaelw.]

Lovely castle and the guys that are renovating it are so amazing and inspirational.

[alfabeta]

In Italy we need people like them. God bless you

[caffhan]

Totally and utterly fantastic. Breathing new life into these beautiful places ❤

[talesfromtuscany]

I was in Trequanda and Montisi just 3 days ago, filming a property and I fell in love with these authentically beautiful little villages instantly! What a wonderful passion project! All my best of wishes to them all! 😍🤗

[helenrumjanek]

What a fantastic idea bringing together music, art and culinary.Loved the video!

[barbaracarlson]

How interesting! I do hope you can return and we can follow this project! Wonderful to help bring life to this small village! Thank you for sharing this.

[suzyblake]

This was a beautiful episode. I am so happy to see people who want to restore pieces and parts of Italy and it’s history. I would love to follow the progress of this project.

[MihaelaClaudiaPuscas]

One of my favourite episodes from you so far! Loved it from the first second. The type of content I love to consume! Imagine buying and restoring a castle in Italy! My gosh how impressive is that! Plus the way you always put the videos together, so professional and with such a grace, love it! I sometimes talk about you with my friends and tell them what an inspiration you are for me! Even because we had similar lives and similar interests and we both now live around Florence :) Keep them coming, you rock! Much love xxx