March ended with yet another glorious week of warm sunshine: more like summer than early spring. In Kovaci, the barn was the focus of everyone’s attention this week – a lot needed to be done to bring it up to the same standard as the house. Progress – what progress? The sight greeting...
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A lot of activity around beams this week: Miro finishes one set in the house and Amir lays floorboards on another in the barn. In glorious sunshine, a window appears in the barn and work starts on its roof. I choose a door, finally get to look out of the hay-loft window and almost...
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The Opcina property is sold to Italians and rumours send me into a worried spin. A financing road-block slows work, but things still proceed, with trenches everywhere and some quality stone and wood work. Neighbours are a concern for any property and at Kovaci, we had four adjacent properties. Only two were occupied,...
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In glorious weather, work shifts outside and moves on apace. The pool emerges from its formers and is back-filled into the garden, and work progresses rapidly on the šupa. The house gains a front door and the windows arrive, but the stairs disappear! And I finally make a decision about tiles. Dramatic progress...
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As well as a three-bedroom terraced house, our property at Kovaci also has a barn. It’s a lovely building, in great condition, but restoring it along with the house would have been a big financial step too far – or so it seemed. Then, when P went to the UK, I started daydreaming… ...
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Despite miscommunication, mis-translations and mislaid e-mails, work progresses steadily. I add yet more to an over-packed schedule, the pool starts taking shape and warmer weather finally arrives. Miro and I go shopping and, in a strange reversal of typical roles, I seem intent on spending money while Miro tries saving it! Super šupa...
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Istrian stone villages often look timeless – a slice of history, frozen in time. Any modern buildings appear intrusive, at odds with an otherwise historic atmosphere. When we bought our property in Kovaci, we soon discovered this is an overly romantic view. As Valter, the property’s previous owner, explained, these villages have rarely been...
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A string of problems, inside and out, test my resolve, and mistakes test my temper this week. Do we find solutions and, most importantly, do I finally lose my cool? Now the pool won’t fit… I started this week with a visit to the house to discuss the garden with my gardener, Davor....
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Kovaci will be a holiday rental property. So as well as complete restoration, it also needs furnishing from top to bottom, and equipping with everything from light fittings and wardrobes to teaspoons and linen. In early February, while the builders continued working and P went to the UK, I started furniture shopping. Would I...
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Like most of Europe, Istria continued to freeze in the second week of February. But despite over-night temperatures below -10°C, work moves forward apace in the house and many decisions need to be made. With P away in the UK, I go furniture hunting and … complicating my life even further … started daydreaming...
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Week three of our Istrian house restoration project sees temperatures tumble and my confidence falter, as my translator Miran disappears … and things don’t seem to be going quite to plan. Abandoned? Week three did not start well. First, I was unable to reach Miran by phone to set up a progress meeting...
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In Istrian villages, older properties often lean against one another: buildings on one plot can get muddled with those on another, boundaries can criss-cross and so on. Very picturesque, but it means that during renovations, something that seems straightforward can rapidly get very complex, involving more and more people. Our place in Kovaci is...
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Work progressed very quickly in the first week of our Istrian house restoration project. Will things continue as rapidly and smoothly in week two, when the plumber and electrician arrive on site, the roof’s replaced and the sink debate runs on? One sink or two? Week two started with me investigating bathroom sinks...
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When house hunting, our ideal property would have been detached, on a big plot with distant neighbours. Unfortunately our budget didn’t stretch to that and the property we bought was an old stone Istrian house, part of a terrace in a village location. With sea views, the coast less than ten minutes drive away,...
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Are you looking to buy a holiday home abroad – and hoping to fund your dream with some rental income? It may come as a surprise, but not all ‘tourist’ properties can be rented out … no matter how suitable they may look or what you are told. Before you make a possibly expensive...
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