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Perfect Chianti Leopoldina Villa with Pool & Amazing Views
€2,800,000
$3,052,000
€
$
Barberino Tavarnelle, Tuscany
8
10
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Ref #: V5250AB
Peccioli, TuscanyRef #: V5250AB
Nestled in the exquisite hills of central Tuscany, near Castelfalfi with its golf course and not far from San Gimignano and Volterra, this prestigious property overlooks an exceptionally unspoilt landscape. It is adjacent to the exclusive golf club of Castelfalfi.
The complex comprises 3 units totalling 700 sqm. Its farm estate of 8 hectares includes 6 hectares of organic olive grove (certified organic) and a fruit orchard. A harmonious garden designed by a famous landscape architect surrounds the villa, and a breath-taking infinity pool with mother of pearl mosaic stands on the edge of the hill. It took the present owner almost 3 years (2009- 2011) to completely refurbish the property to the highest and most modern standards.
The refurbishment particularly focused on the following aspects:
– Uncompromised respect to Tuscan patrimony
– Implementation of eco-friendly technologies
– Minimisation of running costs;
– Maximisation of automation (“user friendly” house with absolute minimum maintenance and human involvement);
The renovation employed only local skilled manpower with proven artistic background to restore all visible particulars, such as brickwork and painting. Furthermore, the rebuilding of all ceilings adhered to original construction techniques, i.e. with brick vaults in former cowsheds, and with flat bricks (cotto) and chestnut wood beams in other areas.
“Zero footprint” concept
The property’s all-electric setup discards the use of fossil energy. In order to minimise running costs and to balance energy consumption, a solar power plant producing more than 30 megawatts per annum has been built on-site. This, combined with advanced green technologies, awarded this property the much sought after energy performance certificate “A+”.
Examples of implemented green technologies are:
– Vertical closed loop geothermal system (600m of drilling), combined with redundant high-performance heat pumps to heat/cool the buildings
– Pyramid shaped under-floor heating/cooling
– Dual-flow ventilation in all units
– Thick wood fibreboard insulation
– Advanced ventilated roof (13 different layers, including Gore-Tex)
– Polarised low emissivity windows
– LED lamps for all heavily illuminated areas
Practically speaking, combining these technologies allows for a comfortable internal temperature of 22°C during wintertime at a fraction of usual cost and around 10°C difference between internal and external temperature during summertime at almost no running cost, hence avoiding the installation of energy-consuming conventional air conditioning systems.
All four units share the same utilities, which reside in one technical room, but partitioning equipment has been installed in order to allow each unit to operate independently. This design reduces maintenance costs while enhancing overall reliability.
In order to preclude the possibility of irrigation shortages, three independent water supplies have been installed:
1. Potable water is provided via a connection to the public network. Two small intermediate water tanks have been installed so as to streamline the supply. Hot water permanently circulates through highly isolated pipes (1°C of temperature loss per kilometre) in order to enhance the occupant’s comfort. At regular intervals (once per week, at night), hot water temperature rises to around 70°C for a short period of time so as to guarantee bacteria free water. In addition, a water softener removes limestone, as public water is relatively hard.
2. Rainwater is recovered from the roofs and redirected to a very large, armed concrete storage tank with a colossal capacity of 170,000 litres. The water is then filtered twice (25μ and activated carbon) and is subsequently either redirected towards toilets and washing machines or filtered a third time (5μ) and sterilised by a U.V. lamp before being redirected towards the swimming pool. It is needless to point out that the quality of this water is excellent, even if it is not intended to be drinkable.
3. A large pond containing around 900,000 litres of water is strategically located on the highest part of the estate. Its water is distributed to each garden zone through underground piping. The garden, planted with around 7,000 plants, showcases a fully automated watering system that requires minimal human involvement.
The renovation incorporated Northern European style foundations in order to guarantee maximum structural stability and avoid rising damp. As well as complying fully with earthquake requirements, these foundations offer outstanding performance against rising damp, thanks to their advanced type of underground ventilation as well as the presence of Vandex powder, which vitrifies the concrete. In addition, micro-piles have been added to the foundations in order to reduce compressive loading and therefore enhance soil stability in areas where it was believed to be necessary (i.e. the converted hayloft that lies on the edge of the hill).
Whilst the area is deemed safe, the following infrastructure has been installed:
– CCTV system with numerous cameras (12)
– Advanced alarm system (with mobile phone communication)
– Security-proof glass
The estate is connected to the internet through high-speed WI-MAX (8mb/s). Two underground landlines were installed during the repair of the access road. Therefore, broadband is also available through ADSL.
THE INFINITY SWIMMING POOL
The infinity pool is the masterpiece of the property. As the pool lies on the edge of the hill, it offers breathtaking views of its surroundings. What’s more, sunlight superbly reflects off the water thanks to the iridescence properties of the pool’s mother of pearl mosaic.
While its dimensions (14m x 7m) make it undeniably a large swimming pool, its constant depth (1.25m) allows for the practice of most kinds of water sports, including swimming.
As with all other systems in the house, pool water treatment is fully automated and can be done either by salt or by conventional products. Last but not least, the water is heated through the house’s low energy consumption geothermal system.
The sale includes more than 10 parking spaces.
Distance from services: 4km
Distance from main airports: Pisa 48km, Florence 60km.
Phone line
Wi-Fi
Autonomous mixed electric self-produced and Geothermal heating
Water: City water supply
Mains electricity
Energy Class: A+
View all our properties on our website casatuscany.com
Address: Peccioli, Tuscany
Location type: Rural
Condition: Restored
Bedrooms: 10
Bathrooms: 8
Property size: 700 sqm
Land size: 8 hectares
A notary is a qualified lawyer who is employed by the Italian government. When you are buying Italian property, it is a notary who conducts the legal transfer of a property from vendor to buyer, and prepares the deed of sale, checks there are no charges on the property, title issues and with the assistance of a technician such as a geometra or architect, checks the property conforms to all planning issues.
It is always the buyer and not the vendor who pays the purchase taxes due and who pays the notary fees also. This means that it is up to the buyer which notary is used. In practice it is usually one of the local notaries and we can recommend which one to use and which one is cheapest, as notary prices do vary.
We provide a detailed list of all fees and taxes (including the notary’s quote) before you sign any contracts.
Translator – if you do not speak fluent, enough to understand detailed legal contracts, you will need to have a translator at the notary deed. Your agent or the notary will usually arrange this so you don’t need to worry about it. The cost varies but is often 200-300 euros. This can sometimes be shared with the vendor if they are also non fluent in Italian.
This depends firstly on two things.
A. Are you buying as a resident or a non resident?
B. Are you buying from private individuals or from a company?
If you are buying from private individuals, then the taxes you pay are based on the cadastral value – a nominal value which each property has and which depends on its size, location, standard etc – nothing to do with the market value.
Example 1:
House price agreed €100,000.
Property belongs to private sellers.
Cadastral value of the property €32,000.
Let’s say you intend buying the house as a non resident (.ie. you do not intend moving to Italy permanently and applying for residency).
Taxes payable are 9% on cadastral value €32,000 so €2,880 plus a few smaller fixed taxes.
Or, if you intend moving to live in the house permanently, applying for Italian residency, then as long as you don’t already own another property in Italy;
Taxes payable are 2% on cadastral value €32,000 so €640 plus a few smaller fixed taxes. A minimum figure may be payable.
Please note, you could buy the house as a resident and pay the lower rate of tax if you intend moving there and obtaining residency within the next 18 months. Don’t be tempted to do this unless you are definitely sure you will become a resident. If you then do not, you need to pay the difference in taxes plus a penalty of around 30%.
If there is substantial land (not just a garden) with the property, then 15% is payable on the value attributed to the land, which can be quite low, eg a value of €15,000 could be attributed to the land so 15% of 15,000 = €2,250 would be the tax on the land.
Example 2:
House price €100,000
Property is being sold by a company
Cadastral value of the property is €32,000
Let’s say you intend buying the house as a non resident (i.e. you do not intend moving to Italy permanently and applying for residency).
Taxes payable are 10% VAT on full market price €100,000 so €10,000 plus a few smaller fixed taxes.
Or, if you intend moving to live in the house permanently, applying for Italian residency, then as long as you don’t already own another property in Italy,
Taxes payable are 4% VAT on €100,000 so €4,000 plus a few smaller fixed taxes.
Once we know
– which house you want to buy, its cadastral value and who owns it (company/individual)
– whether you intend to buy as a resident/non resident and if it’s your first property in Italy
only then can we ask the notary to provide a quote for the precise taxes payable.
Other circumstances
Then of course there are other scenarios.
If the value of the property you want to buy is very low (eg €50,000) then purchase costs are likely to be a higher percentage as there are set minimums to pay for all fees and taxes. So on a €50,000 house, you are likely to pay 12-15% instead of 10% (non resident).
You might want to buy a property (being sold by private individuals) with your company. Taxes are considerably higher in this case, as they would be 9% on the sale price (not on the cadastral value). So it’s cheaper to buy a privately owned property as a private individual, not as a company.
But, in the case of a country property which is a farm/winery/agriturismo, these are often owned by a farming company (azienda agricola) , which has considerable tax advantages as you can buy the farm and pay just 0-1% (depending on the circumstances) on the purchase price in tax.
Taxes would be different for a commercial purchase, eg if your company is buying an Italian company (ie a farm or other company). Buying the shares of a company usually meets zero taxes, just a few fixed fees, and notary and accountancy fees.
The above is a guide, and once you have found a property you are interested in buying, we can obtain a notary quote for you, with a full breakdown of the taxes and fees due.
Notary fees – approx 1-2%, more for a lower priced property due to some fixed taxes.
Agency fees – in Italy both buyer and seller pay the agent. These are payable to the Italian agent (one of our partners) you view the house with at compromesso (preliminary contract) stage and for each party are usually 3% plus VAT. VAT is 22% in Italy. Minimums apply. Nothing is payable to Casa Tuscany so you will not pay double the fees, you will just have double the assistance!
Compromesso registration fees – approx €380 plus a part payment of taxes which is deducted from the total taxes due at completion.
Translator for the deed signing at the notary’s office. Required if you do not speak Italian well enough to understand legal deeds. Approx cost €250 – €350 depending on the notary.
Technical report for the notary. Checks all the planning issues of the property, making sure it matches the official plans, no works have been carried out without permission, gathers all previous permits, checks the house is sellable and not illegal in any way. Carried out by a geometra, architect or engineer and costs vary considerably, a minimum of €761 including VAT/ Please note this report is NOT a structural survey, that is an optional additional report you may wish to instruct.
Local council tax – IMU (formerly ICI) – payable only by non residents. This needs to be paid twice a year at the post office – no bill is sent. Most people use a local accountant or property manager to calculate it.
Refuse tax (TARI)
In some areas, mountain community tax.
If you buy a property which is part of a condominium, e.g. with shared pool and grounds, lighting etc, then there will be annual condominium fees to pay which usually range from about €200 to €1000/year unless it is a particularly luxurious property with many amenities in which case costs could be higher.
Utilities
You don’t really need an Italian bank account for buying a property in Italy any more as money is usually sent by bank transfer, although some notaries insist the funds are sent from an Italian account set up by you.
You could of course open an account to handle bills but bear in mind that some utilities companies refuse to arrange direct debits for non resident accounts, and some bills cannot be paid by direct debit.
You could always pay your bills online or if you have a property manager then send them the funds for settling all the bills.
If you do intend opening an Italian bank account, bear in mind that Italian bank charges are high . Usually there is a monthly fee to pay, plus charges for receiving money, paying bills, sending statements, etc etc.
