A house we like

A small brick-and-stone farmhouse, two rooms on the ground floor and two rooms above, sits empty at the edge of a broad meadow that slopes gently to the south.  By foot, up a steep paved road, one can reach Piazza Maggiore, the medieval center of Mondovì, in 15 minutes.  The property sits with its back to the road.  Behind a wall of brick and stone with an old-fashioned wooden portone is a small front garden where old roses grow against the house, a grape arbor shades an outdoor table, and the yard is bordered by fig trees, a large bay laurel, and a walnut tree.  The rest of the property includes an overgrown orchard and the big meadow.  These are the chief virtues of the place; the house has no architectural significance except as a modest example of the vernacular, with vaulted brick ceilings in the lower level and an open, double-volume hayloft that forms an ell at the east end of the house.  An external stairway at the west end is the sole access between the two stories.  The house has no running water, no electricity, no cooking or heating facilities beyond two small fireplaces. 

Our consultant architect estimates 154 square meters of living space in the existing house.  After enclosing the staircase and finishing the upper level of the loft (depending on permits from the city), we might finish with a home of 180-200 m sq.  This process could take 12 – 24 months.  Costs of transforming the building into a year-round dwelling would include: 

• obtaining essential services (water, sewage, electricity, and heating/cooking fuel) from the city
• insulating the building to achieve some degree of energy efficiency (walls, roof, chimneys)
• raising the ceilings on the upper level (these are rather low, possibly not more than about 8 feet)
• enclosing the external stair and the upper level of the hayloft
• building a small garage, probably at the eastern side of the house
• re-configuring the rooms to create at least one bathroom, preferably one and a half, and a small laundry
• re-finishing interior walls and floors that may be salvageable, finishing those that are not  

If we can purchase this property for no more than 110,000 Euro (including all fees, commissions, etc), we might pay for it, and its restructuring, without bank financing.  The final cost could be around 280,000 Euro.