The Montalcino House
Reviewing bids + keeping it in the family + truffle hunting with our project manager
If you are just tuning in, check out our past newsletters to catch up on our adventure of finding and buying a 100-year-old home in Montalcino.
It’s been a while since we’ve written about our Montalcino house. In truth, there hasn’t been much to report. Our last update was on August 3rd, right before Italians depart for their summer holiday and everything shuts down for a few weeks.
Before leaving for his seaside vacation, our project manager, Gabriele, requested bids for general construction, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and doors and windows. “We’ll review these together in September,” he told us, “and con un pizzico di fortuna, with a pinch of luck, interior work will begin in October.”
“Con un pizzico di fortuna a ottobre si lavora sull interno.”
When we bought the house in February 2024, we naively thought it would be renovated and ready for guests by summer 2024 or, at the latest, by the fall harvest. Now, we realize that, in the best-case scenario, it will be ready by the summer of 2025.
The exterior renovations on the backyard side of the home are subject to historical preservation requirements, and the municipal office that reviews and approves these permits is understaffed and backed up. To make matters worse, Gabriele told us that the architect who serves as the point person for permits will soon be on maternity leave. “That’s wonderful for her,” he added, “but it means headaches for us.”
Reviewing bids
The email from Gabriele arrived earlier this week with nine attachments and a proposal to hop on a video call on Thursday at our usual time - 6 am in Minneapolis, 1 pm in Montalcino, one of the few times of the day we can each make meetings work.
“Sì, certo. Grazie Gabriele.” was our answer. We are more than ready to get things moving.
We set the alarm for 5:30 am, got up, cleaned up, and took turns at the espresso machine. In preparation for our meeting, we had printed all the documents and gone through them one by one, taking notes and emailing our list to Gabriele. At 6 am sharp we hopped on the call.
