If you are going to buy or restore a house in Italy, you probably have a dilemma to solve. How can you protect nature and save energy without spoiling the traditional style of your country home? Of course, you don't want to install solar panels all around your garden: it's not the kind of view you'd like to see when you wake up in the morning and open your windows. Additionally, it is something that...

The best architects are building today’s eco homes, which means they are both beautiful and virtuous. In the wake of the Paris accord, perhaps 2016 will be the year when “green” is finally the new normal, in everything from lunch menus to homes. Yet top architects have for years been proving that eco-friendly does not have to mean unstylish. In a new book, New Eco Homes, Manel Gutiérrez identifies...

2015 ends happily for the Italian housing market in the third quarter. The sales have in fact increased by 8.4%. Istat therefore confirms the positive results already achieved in the second quarter (+ 6.2%) and reported by Agenzia delle Entrate. While the number of buyers from northern Europe has been quite constant in the last three months, it seems there is a considerable increase in the number of...

Buying a home can be a long and complex process, but typically it involves going through these steps: Define your criteria Decide what you are looking for in a property – what kind of property you’d like to live in, how many bedrooms you need, size of the garden and all the other details, which are imperative for you – and pick an area on which to focus your search. Consider what you want in the...

The thought of moving to another country with children can be an extremely daunting one, but given the right consideration and planning, it can be a very positive experience for both the children as well as their parents. One of the first things to consider is that children of a school age will almost certainly be required to integrate a lot faster than their parents, in order to keep up with both their...

The Christmas season is approaching and everybody is already sorting out the Christmas lunch. If you have planned to spend your Christmas Holidays in your new home in Italy, probably there is a question still tormenting you: what's the typical Christmas menu in Italy? Well, Italy has a great culinary tradition so the menu is a bit different from North to South. Yet, there are some dishes that, more...

The Advent Calendar is a timeless tradition, to celebrate the countdown of the days to Christmas with your family. This year you can try to build one yourself, instead of buying it. It will be a nice chance to create something using your hands and imagination, adding your own personal touch and giving your loved ones some fun! With this original DIY idea, you can make an unique Christmas decoration...

European investment activity totalled EUR51.5bn in Q3 2015, a 16% increase on the same period a year ago. As a result, rolling annual volumes climbed to EUR237.8bn in the third quarter, the highest level on record and surpassing the previous high of EUR234.6bn in Q3 2007. Magali Marton, joint report author and Research director at Cushman & Wakefield, said: „Investment activity continues to grow...

Ferrari utilised turbocharging twice before – once in the iconic F40 and another time in the lesser-known 208 GTB. The former was designed to make huge lumps of power (478bhp to be exact), while the latter was created to dodge car taxes in Italy with its 2-litre V8. In the 488 GTB, there’s no single magic bullet. Rather, it is the perfect blend of oily bits and eye candy that delivers the goods....

Leaving behind the country in which you were born in search of unknown adventures overseas isn’t for everyone. It takes a certain combination of courage, vision and perhaps a dash of foolishness to abandon everything familiar and jump in to a new world feet first. Seven years ago, Dawn Cavanagh-Hobbs, founder of fractional ownership company Appassionata, did just that. With numerous family members in...