Non-Premium #39686

Artist Apartment in Newly Restored 18th Century Palazzo

Apartment • Fontecchio Italy

    2 Guests   
    1 Bedroom   
    2 Bathrooms   
    Pets welcome
  Primary home

Exchange types accepted

  Simultaneous  
  Non-Simultaneous  
  Non-Reciprocal  
  Hospitality  
Hospitality Description: I have a unique situation of having a 3 apartments in a beautifully restored 18th-century Italian palazzo, one apartment of which is my private residence. The other two apartments I make available for both short and long stays. Each are 1-bedroom, with a queen bed and vaulted ceiling throughout, and all share the interior courtyard.

Statistics

Listed  December 2024
Views  877

General Overview

If you want to visit Italy, but don't want to be surrounded by tourists, the tiny borgo of Fontecchio might be the right place for you. It is located in the Aterno Valley, between two regional parks; Gran Sasso (which has the second highest peak in Italy) and the Sirente-Velino. I arrived to Fontecchio in 2019 to launch cultural projects to support revitalizing the cultural life of the village. Now I have a home apartment within a gorgeous 18th century palazzo. One of the things that I love about my home is that it has vaulted ceilings in every room! The sense of spaciousness above my head, and the curves of the architecture, give me a feeling of openness and makes me want to sing. My second favorite aspect is the large interior courtyard, which is a fabulous place to relax and/or share a meal in the warmer months.

The Space

The apartment consists of a dining room, kitchen (with an adjacent 1/2 bathroom), living room, and bedroom with a full bathroom. It is located off a large interior courtyard which is a perfect place to sip a morning coffee or take an aperatif in the evening on warm days. If you are a creative, there is also the potential of accessing studio space as there are a couple of work studios within the same building.

Guest Access

The apartment is one floor and is located off a large interior courtyard. In addition to my personal apartment/home, I have two other apartments that are sometimes available. I mention this in case you are considering to travel with friends or another couple.

Notes

My apartment is one of four apartments in the historic 18th-century Palazzo Galli. I began to develop the apartments in 2022 as part of a project called "The Fontecchio International Airport" (humor intended). This was a project I began in 2020 dedicated to hosting creative travelers and international artist residencies as a strategy for helping to revitalize and repopulate the village of Fontecchio, which is one among thousands of villages in Italy that has experienced population decline since the end of WWll. In the last 5 years, through this cultural revitalization, the village's population has grown by 16%, many of these newcomers being artists from a diversity of countries of origin. All of this makes Fontecchio an unusual place to visit, being in a remote location far from the tourist mania, between two natural parks, and yet with a creative life that welcomes people from near and far.

Features


Washer
Washer
Oven
Oven
Coffee machine
Coffee machine
Fridge
Fridge
Hair dryer
Hair dryer
Heating
Heating
WiFi
WiFi
High Speed Internet
High Speed Internet
Bed sheets
Bed sheets
Towels
Towels
Deck / patio / courtyard / terrace
Deck / patio / courtyard / terrace

House Rules

    Suitable for infants under 2
    Suitable for children ages 2-12
    Pets welcome
    No smoking

Dates of Availability

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Neighbourhood

Fontecchio is located in the medieval mountain village of Fontecchio (pop: 300), Abruzzo, in south-central Italy, two hours from Rome. The village has one bar, two restaurants, one butcher, one hairstylist, one small grocery market, one flower shop, one pharmacy, one post office, one church, one funeral parlor, and an ATM… almost everything you need in life, except and a disco club. Over recent years, Fontecchio has been home to an upswell of creative cultural life that is unusual for such a tiny village. The Airport has served as a central protagonist and catalyst in this process of revitalization. The project came about as a manner of exploring how the seeding of artistic communities might hold a unique capacity to assist in revitalizing and regenerating life in rural villages that struggle with declining populations. For this reason, it is common to find cultural events happening on many of the weekends in Fontecchio. It's easy to get plugged into the local whatsapp group for cultural events to know what is going on.

Getting to my home

It is most convenient to arrive to Fontecchio by car. However, if you must take public transport, there are two buses that go from Fiumicino International Airport (ROME) to the small city of L'Aquila, which is a half hour's drive from Fontecchio. From there you can take a taxi.

Nearest airport

Fiumicino International (ROME) or Abruzzo Airport PSR (Pescara)

Getting Around

Fontecchio is a tiny village, completely walkable, and there are a number of other tiny villages to explore within just a 10 min drive.

Map of Approximate Location

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Feedback

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Todd

Greetings! (That's my father in the photo with me). I am new to People Like Us, and I'm really looking forward to future home exchanges. I am a single independent professional artist and creative consultant who spends a lot of time in different countries. I am originally from the United States but I have been based in Italy for the last 6 years. During most of that period I have been focused in developing cultural projects dedicated to repopulation efforts of the medieval mountain villages of Abruzzo. I am based in Fontecchio, a village with a population of 350, and I live in a gorgeous apartment in the newly renovated 18th century Palazzo Galli. I have two other apartments in the same palazzo that I can also make available from time to time. I speak English, Spanish and Italian.
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My Desired Destinations

Open to any destination
Can travel at any time