You've come to the right place to find your italian house. At Landscape Properties we are committed to helping you every step of the way.
italian houses come in many shapes and sizes so we thought it might help to have some examples and definitions. The first type of house which many consider almost archetypally Italian is the farmhouse. This is referred to in several different ways and I'll try and explain the difference between them.
You will often see a farmhouse called a ' casa colonica' referring to (originally) one of several tenanted farmhouses owned by one landowner. You will also see the term 'casa padronale' - which refers to the main or most important house of a group of farmhouses. (This doesn't necessarily mean the casa padronale is near other houses, the term could refer back years and the other houses may have been pulled down or be some distance away.) Other Italian terms for a country house are 'casa di campagna' or 'casolare' (are you getting confused yet?)
A 'rustico' may sound like a quaint country cottage but is usually an unfinished building maybe with a roof but no windows and doors and can refer to one that is in that condition through dilapidation and neglect, or to a new build that isn't yet finished. A 'rovina' is a ruin!
A 'podere' is a farm but if you see the term 'azienda agricola' then it refers to a registered country business, for example a farm with a winery or that produces olive oil. An 'agriturismo' is a farmhouse with land that offers farm holidays.
OK that more or less covers farmhouses so we shall move on to other kinds of house. Well how about simple the term 'casa'? It means a house, but often has additional information attached, for example a 'casa a corte' - a house built around a courtyard, or a 'casa convento' - a convent.
A 'villa' is a detached house that is very often (but not always) modern and is completely finished and ready to move into. You often see holiday homes for Italians described in this way, for example a 'villa al mare', 'villa in montagna' and so on.
A 'palazzo' refers to a palace OR a large building in a town or city - the whole edifice, which may then be subdivided into apartments.
Some areas of Italy are famous for a particular type of house, so for example you get the conical-roofed 'trulli' ('trullo' in the singular) around the Alberobello region of Puglia and the 'masserie' or large fortified farmhouses (often flat-roofed and single storey), further south in Puglia.
Finally, in our quick and very edited round-up of italian property terminology, we have 'monolocale,' 'bilocale' and 'trilocale'. These literally mean one, two or three rooms but in actual fact refer to studio flat (everything in one room), two-roomed and three-roomed apartments respectively.
No matter what it's called in Italian we are able to help you find it and although it's interesting to know more about the terminology, we all speak English and our house descriptions are in English too, so that should make life easier!
If you would like to send us details of the type of italian house (villa, podere, apartamento…!) you are looking for, then Please click here. For further information about real estate opportunities in Italy then sign up for our newsletter. Alternatively please get in touch by email or we can call you.
