Housing Trip to Torino...Day 4

Today is the day! We finally get to view our home for the next 2 years! Well, we didn't wake up knowing this. We woke up praying that we would find our home on this day, but we had no idea it would happen.

As always, we start the day with a breakfast buffet. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm getting a bit tired of a huge breakfast buffet every morning. Then, we meet Mariangela and Aureliano at the road. The hotel has a private entrance, and there is no sense in Mariangela walking to the lobby so we can all walk to Via Nizza together.

Our first stop is a multi-unit property near Pinerolo. The grounds are gorgeous, the area is quiet, the unit is quite nice, it seems perfect. It would have been perfect except the landlord lives on the property and has fenced off many parts of the "park" so tenants can't even walk the entire grounds. We would have had a small rectangle of private yard, which would not work with 4 kids. They'd go crazy! The landlord did not seem very keen on renting to a family with 4 kids, either. This place would be perfect for a couple or a couple with 1 small child. It appeared idyllic, yet was not.

Next stop, our new home for the next 2 years, hopefully. We are still in negotiations. Praying this house works out for us. It seems perfect for our needs. On to the house...It is 6BR, 5Ba (I think...can't remember all the baths!), 2 kitchens, living room, dining room, 2 sitting rooms, a roof terrace, a room for school and a study. It is very close to the area we wanted to move to, Pinerolo. It is gated and fenced, we would be the only people living on the property, it has a nice view of the Alps, the landlord speaks English and seemed excited about having kids on the property. There is a laundry room with 2 washers (they don't use dryers in Italy) and a garage for 2 cars. It is an unusual shape...and I love houses with unusual shapes. If there is a round part to a house, I love it. Ironic since I've always lived in a ranch. I just really enjoy the architecture and structure of circles in buildings. Well, this house has circles in spades! The overall shape is a snail. It spirals up to a point and has a rectangular part at the back end. As we looked through the pictures, the kids pointed out all the circles. Circle beds, spiral steps, light fixtures, lamps, chairs, bar stools...lots of circles! So without further ado, here are a few pics of our new house (hopefully!).

Spiral staircase to the balcony and second sitting room 

Circle bed in master bedroom...this is going to go

Outside pic that shows design of the house

So we had to be pulled away from this house to see the remaining properties. The next property was within walking distance of Pinerolo city center. Let's just say, I stepped out of the car and almost told them not to waste their time. No yard, small house, on top of several apartment buildings. After seeing a house that felt like home, this was dismal. The owners had removed everything from the property. When I say everything, I mean everything. The kitchen was empty. No cabinets, no appliances, no light fixtures, nada. The entire house was void of light fixtures. They had even removed some of the panel boards from the walls! Joe noticed a place in a bedroom where they had ripped the wires out of wall...through concrete! Yikes. No thanks.

We had a little bit of time so Aureliano took us to the market on Pinerolo square. It was amazing! Prices for fresh veggies were incredible ($0.10 per pound of apples because they had a slight blemish...applesauce anyone?) and they had lots of fresh seafood. They are open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Joe already knows where I'll be every Wednesday and Saturday. There was a man from South Africa trying to sell me something in Italian. Once he learned we spoke English, he just wanted to know more about where we were from and why we were there. We are going to learn so much when we move. It is going to be wonderful for our family. Aureliano took us to a small, local diner for lunch. The atmosphere was incredible. The polenta was a little bland, but the atmosphere made up for it!

The next house was incredible. It was a bed and breakfast that he was switching over to a rental property and is on a working horse farm. The landlord competes in carriage riding or races or something like that. There were plenty of bedrooms, bathrooms, sitting areas, open spaces, sunroom, etc. We did like this house. It is number 2 on our list. But, alas, there can only be one number 1. If negotiations for the snail property do not work out, we will start negotiating on this property. Aureliano was not impressed. He much prefers the snail property. I asked. I figured the opinion of an Italian would be priceless.

The final house on our trip was confusing. It was up a huge hill, where the driveway wasn't even passable. So we hiked up the driveway to the house. It is basically set in a forest. Joe said J Jr. would love it. It looked like the Shire from The Hobbit. The house was very large with bedrooms everywhere. It had a cool fireplace with a leather bench in front of it. Huge negative - it hadn't been updated in forever. No one had even lived in it for 10 years! The wallpaper was textured, peeling and all over the place. There was carpet everwhere, which is quite unusual for an Italian abode. The snail house has some in the homeschool room. Everywhere else is brick, tile or hardwood. Our relocation specialist was appalled at the state of this property. We later found out there could be wild boar roaming through. Although I'm all about wildlife, an animal that could potentially harm the kids while they are playing in the Shire is not appealing. For many reasons, this property was given the boot.

We were scheduled to visit properties the next day, as well, but Joe and I knew our new home had been seen that day. Mariangela suggested we sit down at a caffe bar and discuss our thoughts. We were all in agreement. This family should live in a snail for the next 2 years.

View from the driveway 

There is a palm tree! I <3 palm trees!