OUR LIFE IN TUSCANY
Marian and Joel Bunton from Lexington, Kentucky, own a two-bedroom apartment in Florence. They spend three weeks there every summer or at Christmas time and offer holiday rentals throughout the rest of the year.
What drew them to Italy? “I fell in love with the Italian language in high school,” Marian explains, “and studied it at university. I spent a semester in Umbria and couldn’t believe how beautiful Italy was. Joel and I had our honeymoon in Florence and travelled around Italy on several vacations. Then we had this crazy idea ten years ago to buy an apartment in Florence. It was the best crazy idea we ever had.
“The apartment is near Piazza Santa Croce and the Arno, so it’s fairly central. It’s three floors up in an old four-storey building. As Americans, we were very surprised that there was no elevator, but we love things being different in Europe and we try to embrace the exotic! The rooms are small by our standards but they’re way, way more cute.
“We bought the apartment fully-furnished and the previous owner had decorated it in what seems to us a very traditional Florentine style; we didn’t want to change a thing. There are wooden beams overhead in some rooms, a couple of ornate mirrors and so on – we love it. We have a tiny balcony with a view down the street, and we often eat dinner there. We used to drink our morning coffee there, but we soon realised we were never going to make coffee as good as the local cafés make coffee! Now we always go out. It’s great sitting watching the people go by.
“Obviously it’s not a cheap trip travelling from the States to Italy, so we’ve been pleased by how good the vacation rentals go. The extravagance of flying to Europe once or twice a year is easily offset by the returns we get from people staying in the apartment. The place is often fully booked from May to October, and people come in the wintertime too. We use a local agency to meet clients and do the handover, and it all seems to run smoothly. We’ve made friends with a few other Americans who own apartments in Florence, and they all say the same.
“I’d advise anyone thinking of buying an apartment in Florence to do it. There are very good real estate agents here who speak English and explain the whole procedure. That said, you’ll get a lot more out of spending time here if you can also learn some Italian. The people are so friendly and it thrills them if you use some of their language. Yes, Florence can get crowded at times, but it’s a truly magical place that I don’t think anyone could ever get tired of.”