Well, two sold in the last two weeks, I told you that they were bargains, 850 Bastioni and 07 La Pineta now gone.

The houses that we are currently working on for our various clients are taking shape, and these photos show some of the work as it has progressed. All the properties are nearing completion and the families will be moving in from about Easter to mid summer.

Whilst these are finishing we will be starting on 502 Rovina, and continuing with 936 Palazetto.

We can show you some or all of these sites when you next come to Umbria.

Do we have a password and log in details

John

The season of mellow fruitfulness has passed, the picklings, jams, preserves and chutneys have been made from the abundance of figs, pepperoni and passion fruit flowers. Squashes and pumpkins were used for toothy masks for Halloween, and also baked or cooked into pies. The grapes have been crushed and the must is well fermented. There is still snow on the Apennines that we can see in the distance, and in the early mornings the mists combine with the smell of woodsmoke to cover the lower valleys in ‘cotton wool’. We have just had two chocolate festivals, in Perugia and also Gubbio, four festivals of the woodlands, funghi, autumn and chestnuts at Preggio, Morra, Montone and Gubbio again. Despite all these diversions we are still concentrating on the houses that we are continuing to restore for our clients and also for ourselves. Customers are now starting to arrive and although the price of properties is continuing to increase, as it has for the last twenty two years at some 10 or 12 percent, year on year, there are always proprietors who are still holding last year's prices. www.propertiesumbria.com So it might just be the moment to come, choose, and slap in an offer before the annual increase which always arrives with Easter.

We’ve also now finished our house, and have done most of the work on the swimming pool. Only the mud and mess remains to be cleared away. From Christmas we will be welcoming friends that we haven’t yet met to share our home and our lifestyle here in the green countryside of the Upper Tiber Valley in Umbria at www.lapreghiera.com.

Hi John,
Thanks for the kind invitation. I do believe a story about your> property would make an interesting article.
It turns out that Umbria is my favorite region of Italy and I looked long and hard for a property myself (I wish I had known of your site a couple of years> ago!) but eventually I bought a place in in the Lunigiana.
We seem to have somewhat parallel lives going here. The first house I ever rented in Europe was Calboccia, near you around Umbertide. I also know Bill Hocker, of model soldier fame; I worked with Bill on an archaeolgical project on Sardinia, where he was enlisted to do architectural drawings of the Nuraghe, while I handled the archaeology and the cooking.
I also have a website offering properties in the Lunigiana as a help to the agency from which I bought my house. I also attended the University for Foreigners in Perugia to work on my Italian. I really enjoyed your stories on Tunstill's Umbria. Not so different than life in the Lunigiana or in the interior of Sardinia for that matter. That category doesn't get a lot of page views but I'll write something on the joys of Umbria soon and maybe we can get something going on that. I'll be in Italy in late spring/early summer. Perhaps we can arrange a visit then. Thanks,
James Martin
Europe for Visitors http://goeurope.about.com/
http://goeurope.about.com/od/umbrialodging/index.htm