When the heat is on
Take a siesta in a farmhouse built in the creamy local limestone of Puglia, southern Italy’s undiscovered region with beautiful Lecce as its capital, says Cathy Hawker.
Down in the heel of Italy in Puglia, past the famous conical trulli houses and the industrial smoke of Taranto and Bari, a pale, soft stone frames some of the country’s most beautiful towns. This “pietra Leccese”, the limestone of Lecce, was used for centuries to build cathedrals, churches - and masseria, or sturdy local farmhouses. These masseria are handsome buildings: some restored to become boutique hotels, some used as private homes and some left to crumble slowly in the hot, dry heat.
“Masseria are now increasingly popular with foreign buyers, ” say Gemma Knowels of GK Italian Property. “Italian buyers typically go for coastal apartments but British buyers look inland, though nowhere in Puglia is more than 20 miles from sea.”
Masseria are large usually very old, and often require a great deal of restoration. Steep upkeep costs may deter some buyers but Landscape Properties offers a solution. It has sites in southern Puglia and neighbouring Basilicata with permission to build new stone farmhouse using centuries-old techniques.
Only 10 new homes a year
A new 2,000 sq ft house with a swimming pool and five acres of ground starts from a little below £400,000, with clients able to choose from several design styles and customised finishes.
“Unlike Tuscany this part of south of Italy was always a poor area with a shortage of farmhouses”, says Francesco Carlucci of Landscape Properties.
The firm builds only 10 houses a year. Each project is a single-storey and sits in five acres of land - which is a legal requirement with new rural homes - so in hot , flat Puglia you can own your own olive grove with up to 500 trees, or in hillier Basilicata you could overlook a lake and agricultural fields.
The skilful stonemasons will carve vaulted ceilings, large fireplace and arched cloisters to provide shade from the fierce summer sun. Owners can add swimming pools, courtyards and gardens, creating individual properties with a simple, traditional beauty.
Jo and Paul Stephenson from central London bought a new masseria in Puglia in 2006. They spend three months there every summer, their four bedrooms soon filling up with visiting family and friends.
“We owned a house in Liguria, in northern Italy, but had become so built-up and crowded,” says Jo. “A friend told us about Puglia and we fell for the region. The restaurants have great local cuisine, the beaches are safe, and thought it is very hot in July and August, there is always a breeze. The people are so much more unspoilt by tourism and crime levels are low. But getting anything done can be frustrating, and you certainly don’t find English spoken very widely here.”
Italian visitors come in the peak summer months, sunbathing on the sandy beaches (which are not always the cleanest in Italy) and enjoying the seafood and local wines. However, for nine months of the years this is a very quiet area, and not for those seeking night life or sophisticated environment. “We don’t at the moment cater for an International market,” admits Andrea Nuzzo from Lecce Tourist Office. “ Standards can be variable but we are learning .
Probably our best asset is that remain undiscovered.
For those in need of culture, Lecce, the provincial capital, is stuffed with Baroque architecture, narrow streets lined with bookshop and art galleries and restaurant filled square, perfect for watching the passeggiata the evening promenade. A two –bedroom city-centre flat there costs from £ 206,000.
Matera, Basilicata
Lying between Calabria and Puglia in the inside of boot of Italy, Basilicata is one of the country ‘s smallest regions and also one of its poorest. As younger residents left in search of jobs and a better life elsewhere , Basilicata suffered hugely from a falling population and extreme poverty. Yet there’s a hint of Tuscany in its rolling hills and a Greek influence in its food and culture.
Tourists can find plenty of history, in this mountainous, arid area and Basilicata’s second city of Matera, one hour from Bari airport, is a good place to start. This is the home of the Sassi caves built into the rock, believed to date from prehistoric times and occupied up until the fifties when the Italian Government forcibly relocated their residents.
Now a Unesco World Heritage site, the Sassi are hugely impressive, doubling as Jerusalem 2,000 years ago for Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ. People are starting to repair these cave houses and move back in – some 2,000 of Matera’s 60,000 population live there today.
“Matera is one of the world‘s oldest cities with a busy, modern centre,” says Francesco Carlucci of Landscape Properties. “It’s cheaper to buy property in the old part as most residents want modern houses.” Carlucci is selling new-build stone farmhouse 10 minutes from Matera starting from £395,000.
Access is good via Bari Airport but this is a rural and quiet area where few residents speak English and tourism is fairly new. Visitors looking for a place to stay should try out La Casa di Lucio (00 39 0835 312798; www.lacasadilucio.it), a small hotel with nine pretty rooms carved out of Sassi . Suites start from £ 70 a night. The larger hotel Sant’Angelo (00 39 0835 314010 ; www.hotelsantangelosassi.it) is another good choice.
From £ 395,000: new stone farmhouse are being built by Landscape Properties only 10 minutes from Matera. Visit www.dreamhomesinpuglia.com
Lecce, the regional capital
This is the most expensive area of southern Puglia and the main city in the Salento penisula with easy access to both the Adriatic and Ionian seas. An impressive Baroque city, it is often described, possibly a little optimistically as “the Florence of the South”. Lecce has more than 40 churches that date from 17th century and an impressive cathedral that dominates the Piazza del Duomo in the heart of the city.
Elegant apartments with wrought-iron balconies overlooking the streets and squares are becoming more attractive to British buyers who like small-scale city life combined with nearby beaches, simple seafood and local wines.
House & Loft agency says buyers should expect to pay from about £200,000 for two bedroom city centre apartment in Lecce, which is about half the cost of a similar apartment in Bari.
For more information, contact Landscape Properties Group (www.dreamhomesinpuglia.com) or Knight Frank (020 7629 8171; www.knight frank.com),