‘I sold my new castle after three weeks’
When an American retiree bought an Italian palace, he never expected to almost double his money in a flash. By Silvia Marchetti
Aretired American consultant in his sixties recently bought and then re-sold an Italian castle three weeks later at nearly twice the cost, making more than €1m (£860,000) in profit. Steven Hill, a former environmental engineer in Washington state, purchased the magnificent Castello di Serravalle in December for €1.82m. Situated in the Emilia-Romagna region, he bought it from an aristocratic Italian family who had owned it for 35 years. It comprises an 18th-century stately palace called Palazzo Boccadiferro, a hunting lodge, a four-storey lookout tower and a park.
About three weeks later, in January, Mr Hill sold it for €3.1m – almost twice the price – to a local businessman. Franco Giuliani had always loved the castle but had not stepped forward to buy it, even though the lavish property had been on sale for six years, because he was caught up with other projects. “Shortly before finishing the purchase, I was approached by Franco Giuliani, who made several offers to purchase the Castello,” Mr Hill told i. “He eventually offered too much for me to turn down. “I am told that Mr Giuliani grew up in the area near the castle and has a very personal attachment to the property. We hope that he will love and honour the place as much as we would have.”
Mr Hill’s wife, Janyce, has always considered writing as a career – the American couple often joked about emulating JK Rowling and buying a castle if she sold a first novel. When they went to look at the building, it was love at first sight.
“We loved the property: its location, the mix of medieval and
The castle was sold for a quick profit equivalent to about £1m
enlightenment architecture and the history, both of the region and the Castello itself,” says Mr Hill.
“We planned to live there six months out of the year and use it as a base for travelling.”
They declined Mr Giuliani’s initial offer, says Mr Hill, but eventually the 74-year-old “increased the offer to a point that would allow us to find and purchase another property that better suited our plans”.
“So we accepted his offer… and are in the process of buying a different property near Milan.” Roberto Giuliani, Franco Giuliani’s 44-year-old son, says the family have grand plans for the future of Castello di Serravalle and feel “pride in having brought it back” into Italian hands.
“Our family has always been in love with this territory and its history,” he says. “The awareness of the uniqueness of Palazzo Boccadiferro has pushed us to take this important and ambitious step.” The Giulianis have no plans to live in the building, but want to make it accessible to the public and use it to revive the area, he says.
“We would like to give new life to these walls... with the intention of keeping its charm alive and respecting its historical value.”
The brief saga has left locals baffled. It has been the subject of gossip at bars and butcher shops. “We’re a bit shocked that a foreigner came along and made so much money so quickly by reselling the castle, paradoxically to an Italian who lived in the area and could have got it at a much lower cost years ago,” says Anna Bianchi, a 75-year-old housekeeper from Modena.
“There’s a lot of chit-chat about this American who popped out of nowhere making a fortune, but at least now the castle belongs again to an Italian family.”
Dozens of members of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were detained by police in New Delhi yesterday as they gathered in protest against the arrest of their leader in a corruption case, weeks before India holds general elections. Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of the national capital territory of Delhi, was arrested in connection with graft allegations relating to the city’s liquor policy.
Mr Kejriwal’s arrest is a setback for AAP and the larger opposition alliance of which he is a key leader. His lawyers have petitioned the Supreme Court against his arrest. Voting begins on 19 April.