You never forget your second ‘first’ home
Americans and Israelis are spending more and more time in Todi, so much so that they could almost call it home, while Italians tend to have more modest budgets
According toMarcello Bambagioni, Chair of the Umbrian branch of the Italian Federation of Professional Estate Agents (FIAIP), “Todi’s tourist property market in 2023 was in line with the region’s sales market, with selective demand, stagnant prices and sales slightly down on 2022, which saw the highest rate of sales in the last ten years”. However, according to Daniela Bigaroni, owner of the very centrally located estate agents L’officina del casale, “there is a certain social movement and dynamism that is not reflected in the official figures”. The industry expert points to an increasingly pressing search for quality. “People choose to live in Todi for the slow pace of life, lack of traffic, clean air, more human relationships and community spirit; in short, for a widespread and consolidated sense of community. Those who buy an apartment in the historic old town or surrounding hamlets end up living there all year round or inviting their friends and family there. That is why I call it ‘the second first home’. This is the current trend, led by the Americans and Northern Europeans”. In fact, “the historic old town has literally been taken by storm”, confirms Marsilio Comodini, founder and coowner together with his son Alessandro of the Comodini architectural studio. It is also thanks to the vision of the two designers that both the look and function of the heart of Todi has changed. Restaurants and new living spaces have been created. “Over the last 15 years, we have restored and converted many ground floor properties that were once warehouses, stables or saddler’s shops. This has created new dwellings, most under 60 square metres, which are increasingly in demand”. And that’s not all. “Seven out of the ten ground floor properties that we have renovated possess old wells, which we clean, reclaim and use as part of the interior design, installing the appropriate lighting to make them a real feature. Ground floors that have brick, barrel or cross vaulted ceilings. And those who buy them can also sell them on for 40 percent more”, explains Comodini senior. At the end of December, L’officina del casale sold a period, three-storey, 125-sqm property in the heart of Todi to an American client for €105,000, with a stunning panoramic terrace, in need of complete renovation. Farmhouses in the 37 hamlets surrounding Todi are also very popular, all in the shadows of medieval towers and castles. “These searches are also dominated by a desire for the good life,” continues Daniela Bigaroni, “particularly among foreign buyers, who love the vegetable gardens, village festivals and pleasant neighbourhoods, while still retaining a certain degree of privacy”.
The most in-demand rural properties tend to have a floor plan of 300-350 square metres, ideally with a swimming pool or space to build one, with views of the hills, a garden of up to 5,000 square metres and perhaps even a small olive grove. “Vineyards, however, come very low on the list of priorities. The last farmhouse I sold was to a German couple at the end of 2023 in the hamlet of Canonica. The price? €690,000. This 230-sqm, two storey property came with a small swimming pool and 15 hectares of arable land and olive groves. For me, this is the most beautiful hamlet of all,” Bigaroni concludes. “It is the most prosperous and romantic, where the sunset burns an incandescent red”.