WITH far-reaching views of the Umbrian countryside and five acres of terraced land with olives, vines and a swimming pool, Ian and Annie Robertson would seem to be living the dream in Italy. So why, after five years of living there full-time, are they selling up? The Scottish couple are suffering from a condition called Italian fatigue — a syndrome that can strike after several years of la dolce vita. Like many Brits who moved to Italy, they have found that being separated from family and friends, living on the periphery of a foreign culture and the sheer hard, physical work entailed in maintaining a property like theirs is draining after a while. Although they still love Italy, they find the pull of home increasingly alluring and have decided it is time to return to familiar shores.
It is a dilemma many Brits who have moved to Italy and other countries will have to face. Despite the sunshine and lower cost of living, is this where you really want to spend the rest of your life? “We’ve had a wonderful experience, but the old saying that there’s no place like home does ring true after a while,” Annie says.
The couple’s home — the oldest part is 150 years old — is within walking distance of Paciano, one of the prettiest medieval towns of Umbria. The house was completely unloved when the Robertsons bought it, but it had attractive, original architectural features such as beamed ceilings, tiled floors and chestnut shutters. The house also had a garden, though the couple could not walk in it without the aid of a machete. Over the next few years they invested time and money in bringing the house back to order. Ian, a semi-retired architect, enlarged the property and added a kitchen-diner. He also built a 17m (56ft) swimming pool, complete with underwater bench on which to lounge while downing gin and tonics as the sun sets. They reclaimed the garden, planted trees and shrubs, built walkways and paths and established four separate seating areas to take advantage of the views of Lake Trasimeno. They planted two vegetable gardens and have an orchard of 250 olive trees, which gives them 150 litres of oil a year. The property is currently divided into two apartments — the Robertsons live downstairs and rent out the top half to tourists as income.
Some people would say it seems foolish, after all that work, to give it up. The catalyst for their decision to sell, Annie says, was the birth of their first grandchild, Dylan, now aged three months. The couple have four children between them from first marriages. “Your children come over to see you for a week or two weeks, and it’s lovely, but it’s not as satisfying as seeing them on a regular basis. Now that my daughter has a baby, I want to be near her.” They also miss their friends. “We miss being able to call them and go out to the cinema or the theatre, just normal day-to-day interaction,” she adds.
Other factors have also contributed to their decision. Annie is recovering from a major operation and says the upkeep of the property will soon become too much for them. Another reason to return to the UK is that they miss the buzz of a big city.
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“You become very hillbillyish when you live out in the sticks like this,” she says. “It’s beautiful and peaceful, but sometimes it’s just too quiet. I always feel energised when I come back from a visit to London or a day-trip to Rome.”
Like most expats, they never fully integrated into Italian culture because they live in the countryside, speak English at home and find it easier to make friends with other foreigners. They think this social vacuum is something that will concern them more as they get older.
The Robertsons also describe themselves as “project people”. Now that the house and garden in Italy have been done to their satisfaction there is a “what next?” moment and they want to move on to another project. The couple are not planning to give up Italy for good. Once they sell the house they will reinvest some of the money in a large, unrenovated apartment in a sizeable town in Tuscany or Umbria that they will use as a holiday home. “The rest of the money we’ll use to buy a shoebox somewhere near London,” Annie says.
Do they regard it as a failure that they are selling up in Italy? “Not at all,” Ian says. “We’ve had a fantastic five years and we still have a deep love for this country. But we are being practical about the future. We have friends who have done the same — they all started out with big, country houses but they now live in smaller, more manageable apartments.”
The estate agent Diana Levins Moore has lived in Italy for 12 years and is selling the Robertsons’ house. “Living here full-time is vastly different to coming out on holiday and I think that change becomes more marked as you get older, when you want family and familiar things around you,” she says. “The Robertsons are being pragmatic in making this decision to downsize now, as there is still a great demand for this type of property.” There is a consolation for the Robertsons. When they do move back to the London area they won’t have to forgo good Italian food; one of their daughters is an assistant manager at the River Café in Hammersmith, so they are guaranteed a table whenever they want.