Villa Caterina

Villa Caterina

The morning after our arrival at Sulle Onde della Collina we went 

into Santa Maria to see Flavio at the Estate Agency & view some

apartments available for short term rental. 

Whatever we decided on would be hubby's home 

for the next couple of months - I was returning to the UK

on the 17th October to carry on working whilst

building work transformed Il Sogno from the

shell it was into our family home.

We already knew before we set out from the UK that the date

for signing the contract to purchase had been put back

by a week from the 6th October to the 13th; we just hoped 

that there would be no further postponement that

would necessitate my changing my return flight.

When we met with Flavio, it became obvious that the Agency

hadn't had much success with finding us a suitable

property to stay in over the autumn months - property 

owners here are happy to just rent out for the

summer months & then lock up the property until

at least the following Easter. In fact, I don't think

they'd even given it any thought since they'd agreed

that they would help to find us somewhere back on our

visit in April.

Enter Maria Grazia, wife of the Agency's boss; she had a

friend who was looking for a short term tenant for a

huge apartment out beyond San Marco. The friend 

conveniently walked past the office & was called in to 

be introduced. Hubby's mobile rang & he went outside to

take the call. I was left to talk about the possible renting of

the apartment but I knew one thing for certain: I was NOT

shaking hands with anyone as this would be a 'done deal'

before we'd even viewed the place. And was I glad I didn't

fall into the trap of shaking hands - the apartment was

filthy & would take weeks to clean. Narrow escape there then.

Another option was an apartment in Villa Ambrosia in 

frazione Cenito; Maria took us along but when she

'phoned the owner we couldn't view it until after 5 pm.

The villa looked fairly new & well maintained, but it was

located next to a car mechanic's workshop so we were

a little unsure as to whether or not to view it later.

Il Cenito

Then Maria had a moment of inspiration: Attilio 

the car mechanic also owned a B&B, Il Cenito, & 

in the grounds there was a tiny villa, Villa Caterina.

One cosy bedroom, a good sized kitchen/lounge/diner,

a covered terrace with a beautiful ceramic table

and its own little garden. All behind electric gates &

tucked away from the main road. We fell in love with it

as soon as we saw it, settled on a monthly rental figure

& it was agreed that we could move in the next morning.

Villa Caterina - hubby's home for 3 months