Historic Homes: The Art of Buying Abroad

Like many people who reach a certain station in life and reflect on all they’ve accomplished, John Voigtmann found himself feeling that something was missing. A vice president of international marketing for Sony Music, where he coordinated global campaigns for Christina Aguilera, Maroon 5, and others, he was haunted not by need but by desire, by “a willingness of the heart,” as Fitzgerald once described Americans’ unique yearning for experiences outside the prescribed boundaries of their lives. In other words, he quit his day job at Sony, left his New York City life behind, and bought a historic stone townhouse in Tuscany. All such Old World properties—castles, châteaux, fieldstone cottages, post-and-beam barns, medieval country villas, converted baroque churches, neoclassical abbeys, and the like—are living testaments to the past and cannot be created anew, which explains why they can be such great investment opportunities. Like oceanfront real estate, these properties are in limited supply and retain their value. But, wallet aside, they also offer a wholly unique experience—a way for one to live in the present and the past simultaneously. For Voigtmann, that duality was found in a historic townhouse inside the UNESCO Heritage village of Pienza, Italy. “It was an existential necessity,” he explains of his big move. “I asked myself, ‘What am I going to do with my life?!’” What he did—in addition to discovering “a place to observe tourists rather than be one, a place to gaze down the medieval alleyways and catch the distant sound of an Italian song playing and smell the pasta sauce being readied for lunch”—was experience the hard realities that come with buying a historic home. These can include, but are not limited to, purchasing problems, renovation headaches, upkeep issues, and confusing local laws concerning how one can use a property. (Voigtmann eventually turned his home into a charming inn call La Bandita Townhouse.) “The renovation was challenging, to say the least,” notes Voigtmann, happy to offer his experiences as a cautionary tale for those who see his move through rose-tinted glasses. “There are very strict historical requirements and codes in the Siena area. They take preservation very seriously, which is why the region remains so beautiful. You can’t build anything new. But more than that, I couldn’t add square footage to the existing structure or enlarge any windows and doors. I had to meet contemporary building standards and codes but, at the same time, adhere to historical requirements. For example, when I wanted to convert the house to an inn, the building code demanded that a three-floor structure have an elevator, while historic codes forbade elevators! Also, the townhouse is set inside a dense village, so in order to put in a crane to redo the roof, I was told that I had to lift it in with another crane. One crane isn’t cheap. But two . . .” Michael and Lynda Brannan also sought sanctuary in a historic home. Their adventure in international, Old World real estate began when Michael Brannan said to his wife, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a little house in the country, somewhere we could escape to?” That place—a traditional timber-framed house in Normandy, France, dating from the 17th century—possessed the same charm that so appealed to Voigtmann. “The history attached to the house is tangible,” Brannan explains. “You can almost taste it. And as I began the renovations, I would often try to imagine what the original builders were thinking and what their daily routine was like.” The first eye-opener was the cost of properties in northern France. “We saw old houses for sale in the 10,000-euros price range,” says Brannan. “To be fair, most of them were either pigpens—literally—or stables.” Brannan had experience buying properties and renovating them to sell or to rent, which meant he and his wife were uniquely positioned to pull off the dream of buying a low-price piece of history and converting it into an updated treasure. “Our mantra was ‘Do as much as we can without spending any money,’ ” he explains, adding that “people often ask us ‘How did you know where to start?’ The truth is we didn’t! We just saw what needed doing and took it on. One of the most enjoyable experiences about this approach was that the house just evolved. We chipped away as best we could over 10 years, until we completed it.” Every old home is unique and comes with its own set of challenges, which is why it’s critical when finding, evaluating, and renovating the home to have locals on hand who speak your language and serve as your ally—and not the property owner’s, the realtor’s, or the inspector’s. Key, too, is understanding that renovation issues can vary greatly from country to country. While John Voigtmann couldn’t add a single window in Tuscany, Michael Bran- nan notes that, in France, “you can do whatever you want to your house! I remember at one point in the renovation we wanted to open up an exterior wall to bring in light. So we went to the mayor’s office and asked for permission. He just shrugged and said something very much like, ‘What are you asking me for? It’s your house!’” —By Cameron Swain Find your own home abroad.