Liverpool architect Adam Hall embarks on Italian property venture
Managing partner of Liverpool practice Falconer Chester Hall is joining forces with Italian surveyor Mauro Rieti after the pair restored a run down home in the Le Marche region. Tony McDonough reports
One of Liverpool’s best-known architects Adam Hall has formed a new joint venture that will look to buy and restore historic properties in the Le Marche region of Italy.
The managing partner of Liverpool practice Falconer Chester Hall worked with Italian surveyor Mauro Rieti to restore a run down home in the region. Now they have formed Unique Marche with the aim of restoring beautiful honey-coloured farms and country houses redolent of the Cotswolds, but without the hefty price tag.
Mr Hall, whose Liverpool firm is behind a number of major residential towers in Merseyside and Manchester, said: “The value for money here is remarkable – especially given that it’s next door to Tuscany.
“You can buy a 3,000 sq ft dilapidated farmhouse set on more than half an acre for around £75,000. We’ll then design the refurbishment and the pool and terraces and manage the whole build in a single package.”
The company now has eight properties on its books for prices that “wouldn’t buy you a bike shed in Blundellsands”, he added.
All houses are re-built using up-to-date engineering to deal with the occasional earth tremors in the area, plus the latest in ground source heating and smartphone-controlled monitoring and management systems.
“We have so many of these lovely buildings,” added Mr Rieti. “Abandoned because youngsters have moved to the city and there’s been no-one to keep them going. But we still have the craft skills to refurbish them in to beautiful holiday homes, just with very modern underpinnings and technology.”
Mr Hall, still pinching himself at the stunning home he was able to buy and refurbish for less than the cost of a typical suburban semi in Wirral, where he lives, said: “The local scenery, food and culture are simply wonderful and once people visit they realise they’re getting Tuscany for much, much less.”