While in Orvieto I wanted to get a better sense of the surrounding areas and the countryside. On March 21st (Monday) I took a long drive through Porano and Bolsena. Mondays are sleepy in these small towns and many of the restaurants and attractions are closed. Sadly while in Bolsena Centro Storico I didn’t get to go into the museums.
Porano is an idyllic Medieval hamlet surrounded by expansive countryside filled with birdsong. Along my way there I stopped to make way for a pheasant crossing the road. The medieval nucleus is encircled by fortified walls. The small church of San Biagio at its center dates back to the 14th Century and is frescoed by the Orvieto school.
Villa Paolina
Porano is also the location of Villa Paolina which I desperately wanted to visit, but it’s been closed due to COVID. I first learned of Villa Paolina from a coffee table book of Italian gardens.
Also known as del Corniolo, due to the abundance of these wild shrubs in the area, Villa Paolina is a vast complex that develops between steep tuff cliffs along the road that leads from Porano towards Bagnoregio. The foliage hides most of it from view and at the same time adds mystery. The villa stands at the end of a long tree-lined avenue and its park extends over 9 hectares. The park complex includes various garden areas with classical topiary designs, arboretums, and completely wild areas. The villa was built by the will of the Marquis Giovan Battista Gualtiero in 1706 on a pre-existing monastic structure and served as a summer residence. In 1874 the complex was transformed by the Viti Mariani family before coming into possession of the Casini family. Since the 1980s it has been owned by the Province of Terni. The home now consists of a central building with two side wings with an entrance from the garden via a double semicircular staircase. All the windows of the facade are arched and the interior is decorated in a nineteenth-century grotesque style. Etruscan tombs dating back to the 4th century BC have been found throughout its park.
I could totally see myself volunteering to do some gardening here or running some tours in English. What a fantastic place!
Castel Rubello
Porano is also home to Castel Rubello which many historians believe to have been built in the 11th Century, though its first mention in the town archives dates back to 1292. The castle was home to the powerful Monaldeschi of Orvieto (who owned Collelungo as well). In the 1500s ownership changed to the Valente family who transformed it into a villa. To beautify the castle they commissioned a renowned Umbrian painter named Cesare Nebbia to realize a cycle of marvelous frescoes, still perfectly preserved today. The Valente also added a monumental fireplace in 1541. In the 18th century the castle was taken over by the Salvatori family, and then by the Marinis whose last heiress got married in 1892 to the Marquise Nicola Serafini Trinci, whose heirs are the current owners of the structure. The Trinci if you recall also owned the ruined castle I hiked to atop Rasiglia.
On my way out, I stopped on the side of the road and walked through the fortified complex to admire the views. Looking around, I wondered if the family who owns the castle appreciates how special it is or if the place is just “another” country house for them.
I think it’s possible to book a private tour of the castle. I’d have to talk to someone from the area.
I searched all over the web for images of the interior of the castle with its frescoes and did manage to find one at a wedding planning site. That’s one incredible room.
All that Glitters…Is Not Gold
I really loved Porano as a town and I could envision myself there, but by the time I visited a second time, I had learned that the home I had connected with had some serious (and potentially very costly) structural issues. An engineering report has revealed that the house is leaning toward the garden side and that the only way to shore it up is to drive pylons into the foundation every eight meters. The cost I’ve heard to fix this has fluctuated between 17K-70K€ and that’s not counting the other refurbishments the house needs such as electrics, new heating implants, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, etc. Tossing money into the ground at an unseen problem is not an ideal way to start a real estate adventure in Italy, but alas, I’ve yet to see any other house that I’ve liked more than the one in Porano.
As it turns out, masonry buildings with a few years on their backs often end up presenting problems of differential subsidence that lead to the appearance of cracks on walls, floors, and load-bearing beams. The stability of buildings, especially when they rest on clay soils can fail and lead to settling movements and destabilization. Depending on the soil, buildings can begin to sink and shift. This movement can be exacerbated by temperature fluctuations, groundwater, drought, seismic events, and interventions nearby.
Fortunately, there is an effective solution to these problems. Micropalifcation intervention allows the transfer of the structural load to a denser layer of stable soil beneath the building. This process involves the use of small steel poles (around 100 mm thick) that can be applied to both ancient and modern buildings, in order to reinforce the foundations of deteriorated or heavily loaded areas. The whole process can be accomplished in 2-3 days. To learn more go to this page and hit translate.
The house, if you recall had a ruined granary leaning on one side. This building would have to be demolished in order for the micropali to be inserted. I don’t really care for this ruin so that didn’t bother me too much. The thing is…do I like this house enough to pay for this intervention? The agent suggested I make an offer taking into account the cost of this intervention ~50-70K€ less than the asking price. The way I see it, anything in this area is going to be expensive and will likely need restructuring, so at this point, I’m not sure.
We’ll see what my husband thinks of the home and go from there. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I saw it. Sigh.
I’ve also received some pictures of the home’s garden in bloom, further tugging my heartstrings. I do seem to recall my husband saying he wanted to restore something…but do we have the stomach for such a project?
While I was inside the house I didn’t notice any major cracks on the walls, but maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention.
Part of me says, forget it. Another part of me is saying, fix it. Needless to say, I’m more confused than ever!
The only thing to do now is to wait and look at this report and the engineer’s recommendations and cost breakdowns. If my husband likes the house, then we need to get second opinions from an engineer that is a neutral party (as this one is connected to the agent’s company) and go from there.
So…there you have it…
Refurbishing this house may cost hundreds of thousands when all is said and done. What the hell.
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