The Allisons

Italian Villa!

We found a house!! It was the one I had hoped it would be. I knew it had potential on paper but when when we saw it, I fell in love. The house manager didn't know the age of the house but guessed it at 70 or 80 years. I guess I'll post some pictures, describe what you're seeing, and then add in the details.

This is the front. It's a duplex and ours is the whole right side from top to bottom. The car belongs to the neighbors. The neighbors have 2 girls. One of them looked to be an older teenager. The picture looks like it has a fireplace, in what would be the living room, but Mike and I are pretty sure there wasn't one there. I guess it's been closed up.

This is the view from the other side of the house. It's taken from what will be our driveway. The tree is covering our side of the house from this angle. The tree looks like it has white blooms on it. I don't know when this photo was taken, but when we saw the the blooms, they were reddish pink. I don't know if they change color, or it's just the photo. I inquired about the kind of tree and they didn't know. Grandma-do you know what kind of tree it is? It's beautiful. There is a straight walkway leading from the gate on the street to the front door and there is a circular path that goes into the middle of the yard. Some of the other flora is rose bushes.

Let's call this the second floor. The photo on the left is the living room. You can see the very tip of the light fixture that is hanging about 2 or 3 feet down. I don't know if you can get a feel for how high the ceilings are, but they are super high. Standing in the rooms I feel so small. I know, I know. I am small, but still. The photo on the right is the front door and entry hall. The hall goes straight back through the house until you get to the stairs. Before you get to the stairs, on the right is the full bathroom. Past the bathroom is the kitchen. The kitchen is as long as the living room, but only about 5 feet wide. It has a double sink (I think) and cabinets. It has no dishwasher and oddly enough the stove is in the "dining room". The dining room is not quite as big as the living room.

Now for the description of what you cannot see. Once you reach the stairs, if you go down about 7 stairs you will be at the back door. If you turn and go down 9 more you will be on the first floor/basement. The first room is the single car garage. Walking back toward the front is the laundry room and 3/4 bath. (Includes sink, toilet, shower, no tub). Lastly is a storage/game room that is about 3 steps up.

If you were to go up the stairs from the second floor to the third floor you will find the bedrooms. Hard wood in 2, linoleum in the 3rd. No closets, but there is an antique armoire (sp?), chest, and queen bedroom suite that is already in the house that we are able to use for the master. The base loans us 2 other armoires that we can put in the other bedrooms.

Up the stairs to the fourth floor is the attic. There are 2 big rooms that are not finished out or heated, but will be great for tons of storage. It is mild here most of the time so they could also be used for sleeping if we had like 30 other people sleeping in the house.

There's a giant (as narrow as the front yard, but back about 35 yards?) back yard (shared with the neighbors) that has grape vines and what appears to be a garden, but I didn't go too far back there. They claim we are 15 min from a big lake that is cold and clear. They said great in the summer. Per Garrett's question, we are around some Americans. They pointed out a Air Force couple just a few houses down and otherwise here and there in the town. It's very close to the mountains. You would be able to see them in the pictures, but they are behind the photographer.

Amazingly enough, I think I've run out of info. I'm sure there's more, but that's the big stuff anyway. We're super excited and can't wait to move in on 1 November 2005. (that's how the military dates things :) ) We have tons of room for company.

FYI If you're making a trip to Europe, I'm sure you'll want to see more than just Italy. However, from our house it's short train rides to Venice, Florence, and Milan. We talked to a guy yesterday that took a 4 hour train trip to Slovenia last weekend. It's probably about that far or less to the borders of Austria and Germany. Consider free lodging and some free meals while you make day trips for a week. Sounds good huh? :)