Rural Stone House for Sale in Via Di Gugena #148, San Godenzo(Comune Di), Tuscany, Italy

Rural Tuscan Stone House,"Gugena "

The Story of our home in Italy, “Gugena”

I lived in Italy from 1965 to 1968 and have been forever smitten by the country, especially, Tuscany. As an American kid who grew up in an apartment in San Francisco, I suppose that it is only natural that I would dream to have a retreat in the Tuscan hills. In 1971, through a friend, I was able to realize that dream with the acquisition of an old stone farm house on the side of Apennines 45 kilometers northeast of Florence. By this time I had also married my Italian sweetheart, Gabriella, and was actually residing in the Middle East. For the next twenty years Gugena was very much our second home. Being so close to the Middle East we could spend several months a year there. As our children arrived and grew it became very much a part of their lives, too, and remains so until today.

The name “Gugena” (goo-jay-nah) is actually the local name of the 10-12 houses in our area; we just adopted it for our home. It’s located 5 kilometers NE of Dicomano off the main road from Tuscany to Romagna (the SS 67, also called the “Via Forlivese”). There’s a sign on the road on the right hand side in the hamlet of San Bavello that says “Gugena.” One crosses an old stone bridge and turns left up a well maintained dirt road for 2 kilometers to Gugena. We’re close to 700 meters in altitude.

The house consists of 3 floors on the side of the mountain. The “basement” is an unrestored stall. The main floor consists of a living room, dining room/kitchen, bathroom, and a large cantina/laundry/storeroom. Upstairs are three good size bedrooms. There is also an exterior storeroom that is part of the original structure. Above the driveway is a grassy slope. In back of the house are two terraces that lead to the end of the property that are connected by a staircase. On the lower terrace we have constructed trellises for shade while eating outdoors. The house still appears very much as we first purchased it. Afterall, the walls are over a meter thick at the base, one does not easily modify such a structure. The views from nearly any angle of the Upper Mugello Valley and the Apennines behind are breathtaking.

Upgrades:
- Bulldozed a driveway and added retaining walls above and below it.
- Added steel beams in the stall to guarantee support of the kitchen/dining room.
- Installed an interior staircase between floors.
- Installed new tile floors on the main floor and in two of the upstairs bedrooms.
- Installed a new tile roof.
- Installed new wood beams to support both the second floor and the new roof.
- Installed a modern septic tank that complies with Tuscan environmental laws.
- Added a modern bathroom.
- Gugena has a washing machine, all kitchen appliances, water heater, and phone.

You are probably asking, if we have such a paradise, why do you wish to sell it? If we were to keep it as a second home we would never consider selling it. However, now that we are approaching retirement, we have decided to move permanently to somewhere in the area, that is, frankly, more practical. We will move to one of the nearby towns where we can walk to all local services. None of us will ever forget our years of wonderful memories at Gugena.

John Mulholland