I recently discovered this site and can't stop reading it. I hadn't realized the number of people with the same passion for Italian life and culture. I want to buy a house there, but only for part of the year as I have small children and my husband wants to keep his job in the states. For all of you experienced people who moved from dreamer to doer, I have some questions. First let me preface by saying that I am ahead of some people in that my husband's family (aunts, uncles, cousins) all live in Bologna, so for purchasing a house or a car or something, they could help (they are even lawyers too!). It's the taking the plunge aspect that is difficult to get my arms around. I have been going to Italy for about 10 years now, every year, mostly to visit family. I speak well enough to get around and even spent two months there last summer (HEATWAVE) with my kids (now 3 and 4)by myself. So, I have done the longer term trip. We stayed in Castel San Pietro at my husband's grandmother's house (near Bologna) and really immersed ourselves in the community. I rode a bike into town with my son on the front and my daughter on the back! YIKES! Anyway, I so want a place to call my own there, as many of you can understand.Before I ramble too much, here are a few questions:
1) How can I convince my husband that this can really work? (Great for the kids, financially feasible, etc.)
2) Is there a rough estimate of how much it costs to restore or finish a house per square meter? Is it true that you can buy a house for 100,000 euro and spend twice that much in restoration?
3) Is it feasible to buy a place and put a pool in (hard with young kids without a pool--my kids both learned how to swim last year in Italy and their favorite phrase was "I can't walk anymore" so sightseeing on a regular basis won't work)
4) Do they have childcare centers in the summer to help them with the language?
5) Can I spend 4 months there and then sometimes a whole year or have some of you found this to be disruptive for the children?
6) Please share some disappointments. I read a lot of terrific, romantic things about moving there, but know from being there that some small things can be extremely frustrating/disappointing. Any regrets?

I appreciate any insights. I am attracted to Umbria, like many others, but am open to many areas. I found EMilia-Romagna beautiful but flat in many areas; not as interesting and beautiful as others. (If you can even SAY parts of Italy aren't beautiful.)I find the places listed for sale on the Internet to seem pretty expensive, but I imagine that going there and working with someone gets you a better deal. True?

Thank you everyone. I love this site. I haven't gotten anything done in two days!

I won't be able to help you too much, since I haven't officially "taken the plunge",but I too have a young child (just turned 5) and we will be moving to Italy this summer or next. Some thoughts I've had:

It IS great for the children--it has opened up my son's horizons about food, language, culture, ways of doing things, etc. He loves it there, as I'm sure yours do too. Becoming bilingual/bicultural can only be a plus.

Is it economically feasible? It's not easy! The dollar is weak now, so my husband's retirement income has really taken a beating in Euro's. Doesn't look like it will change significantly anytime soon, but then I don't know. If you live with relatives (grandma's house?)that will help significantly. We have refinanced our house here to pull out cash to build on a piece of land my husband owns in the village where his relatives live. In the meantime when we go to Italy we live upstairs from his parents--totally separate environment but not quite ideal, I know. I've mostly been able to manage for the summer, wouldn't want to do it longer than that. I believe the Asilo is free(age 3-6) and children would definitely learn Italian there, but I don't think it runs in the summer (though there are no doubt private "summer camps" that are run in Italian).

As far as swimming pool we used an inflatable one on the patio. Not exactly for "swimming" much but easy and cheap. There definitely are in the ground pools in Italy, just not as common as in Southern California! There is an hotel opposite our house in Italy that lets you use the pool for a daily fee, and a water park 10 minutes away, so there might be some public possibilities nearby.

Once your children are older the schools will NOT like (and your children will probably find it disruptive too) to start school late or leave it early so that you can take 4 months in Italy...better to take the summer vacation that the school gives, then try and visit at another time of year if there is at least a 10-14 day school break. You might be able to stretch it by a few days, but as they get older it gets more difficult and schools are definitely NOT encouraging it (private schools might be more flexible than public however). A whole school year would likely be a better option if you can swing it finanically (that's the BIG IF)(search for R. G. posts on this site--her child is in International School in Rome for a year--originally from southern California I believe).

I hope at the very least this post brings this up to the top of the pile so that others who have taken the plunge can answer...good luck!

Thanks for your info. You sound farther along than I! I actually could ask family there (several of whom have young children) but they all try to persuade me NOT to buy anything there. You know, they complain about low wages (and then wear Cavalli jeans!) and everything Italian. So I know it is different when you live there. I also have a dear friend who is American who married an Italian and lived in Greve in Chianti for 11 years. She just moved back to the States last year and says Italy is great if you have money! And I am intimately familiar with even the little frustrations, like how the stroller doesn't fit in the elevators in apartments in Centro! Hassle! But, somehow I feel home. I read one of Rebecca's posts about when she closes her eyes and says to herself, "Remember this moment!" That is exactly what I do when I am there. Last summer when I was riding the bike with my kids into town I can remember wondering how I could capture the moment, the smells, the feelings and the sounds...

Anyway, it is difficult to jump right into this because when would I go house-hunting? It seems like a difficult process, especially with the kids. So, AFTER I convince my husband, that would be one of the next hurdles.

"(though there are no doubt private "summer camps" that are run in Italian)."

Actually, not so much. There's not really a tradition of private summer camps the way you have in the US, and it's increasingly a problem for two-job families (which is most of us these days) to know what to do with the kids during their 3-month summer break.

Milan, and perhaps other large comunes, has a system of vacation houses which are used during the school year for school trips (gite scolastiche) and during the summer these are used for camps, as I discuss briefly on http://www.straughan.com/italy/school.htm . My daughter went to these camps for 2 or 3 years and was happy, plus the fees are low and means-tested, so anyone can afford them. But I don't know if other cities are this organized. Sometimes local organizations such as the oratorio connected with a church will also arrange summer day camps or other activities for kids; some schools run (for a fee) day camps, often centered around English.

BTW, asilo nido does have a shorter vacation, which helps as long as the kids are small. Otherwise, Italian society assumes that everyone has an extended family that they can farm the kids off to in summer...

I live in the flat part of Emilia Romagna and no it is not the most beautiful part of the country but it is not so bad either. I wouldnt choose it myself but my husband is from here and so we are here living rent free.

To one side of us is the via emilia which is a nightmare, then there is the major highway running from milan to bologna. Because of this there are an abundance of factories. Yuck. But to the other side it is all farm land. We go directly to the farm to buy parmesan at only 8-12 euro a kilo! This is exciting.

I love jogging through the open countryside with a view of the mountains to the west and to the north. Just wide open space with little country roads with no cars. Silence.

There are colours that happen here that i have never seen before in the morning and when the sun goes down.

Anyways, the flat part is only one part of Emilia Romagna. The rest is amazing. I found a web site that deals in selling houses in the mountains here www.lacasaemilia.com. They talk about renovating and rebuilding there.

We have been looking alot in the mountains at houses lately and there are some really good deals out there. We found three that were half way through the reconstruction so to finish the job wouldnt take that much.

If you want to buy in the Bologna area then for sure you are going to pay a fortune. But if you look in the provicia di Modena, Reggio Emilia or Parma, there are tons of bargains.

There is a huge amazing benefit to be near family when you have children, even if the place isnt the most beautiful. You can always get somewhere wonderful in a very short drive.

My husband always says we can live well in Italy if we live like the Italians do..which is frugally by American standards! Life there is relatively expensive compared to the salaries earned (I guess many many families live on between 1,000 and 2,000 Euro a month). They definitely do not have the same consumer mentality we tend to have in the States...they buy necessities and make things last by taking real good care of them(and yes, fashionable clothes are a necessity!). My in-laws who are 80+ are still largely self sufficient--large garden going non-stop from early spring through the fall, more canned tomatoes and olive oil than they know what to do with, chickens, eggs, sheep, lambs...you get the picture. I swear there are some months that they only buy sugar, coffee and soap! On the plus side, while people work hard, they don't quite seem as busy busy busy as many of us are here, juggling too many balls all at once. They have more time for friendship and family, dropping in for a visit, etc. At least these are my impressions.

THanks! Again, I was on a long weekend get away!

I didn't mean to imply Emilia Romagna isn't beautiful, because it is. I guess I just always go there. So of course, wherever you are, you want to be somewhere else! I'll go on some scouting trips to see. I am not sure if you are familiar with Castel San Pietro, it is between Boligna and Imola, but that is where I spend the summer time. In the winter, his grandmother has a big apartment in Bologna that has enough room for guests. I just want to try a long stay elsewhere where I don't have cooks and people to do the laundry (although I do my own cooking an cleaning and shopping when I am there!!, don't get me wrong) to rely on if necessary. Anyway, lots to think about.

And to debp1, what is it with that whole US thing! Americans are well paid, and yet, can't live well for the most part. If you drive down a low income neighborhood (mostly I am talking about LA) people are scraping by but have satelite TV. Its all about skewed priorities here. So weird isn't it. For some reason, I feel like if I spend half time there or something, my priorities will carry over to here. Family, traditions, living in the moment! Here everyone is in a rush to the next big thing.

Of well. We all sound lucky to have had the experiences we have had. Most people never even get to travel!

Thanks again.