Converted Barchessa apartments, Veneto

At the foot of the sweet, gentle Euganean Hills, in a rich countryside that is famous for fine cheeses and rich aromatic wines, a crop of slender, crenellated towers soar high towards the pale blue sky. It is the town of Este, a pearl of medieval and Venetian architecture, which was once seat of one of Europe’s greatest families.
Now Este can become your seat too, as one of the town’s ancient properties, a 17th-century estate just outside the historic centre, has been turned into a group of extraordinary homes for sale.
Sheltered behind thick walls, the estate centres around a 17th century villa, which was probably designed by a pupil of Palladio. A painstaking restoration has converted the villa’s lofty barchessa con torre colombara—a huge porticoed barn typical of Venetian architecture, topped by a defensive tower that doubled up as dovecote—into twelve one or two-bedrooms apartments with shared gardens, and three-bedroom terraced units with private gardens.
Sold off plan, these homes blend together the best of period and new builds: the ancient barchessa’s elegantly sober lines infuses them with a rare charm, but inside they can be fully customised to fit buyers’ needs. And the landscape around them conspires to make these properties really special—outside the front door lies the estate’s own parkland, dotted with century-old trees, and beyond it, the mellow curves of the Euganean Hills and the lush, vineyard-studded countryside of Veneto.
Not to mention that the estate is situated just a short walk away from Este’s dramatic skyline, a one and a half hour’s train journey to Venice and an easy one to one-and-a-half hours’ drive to the international airports in Venice, Verona and Treviso.
“This is a very special place as trying to buy a property in a restored villa is more and more difficult,” says Linda Travella of selling agents Casa Travella, who have been selling homes in Italy for more than twenty years. “It makes a perfect investment for rental if you are not able to use the it that much yourself, and is in an area with a very good infrastructure.
“Este and the surrounding villages in the Veneto region are much loved by Italians, but rarely visited  by the British, which is a shame because they have so much to offer, not least their beautiful countryside and easy access,” she adds. “Properties are competitively prices, with a mixture of rural restored homes and attractive city centre apartments.”
The apartments in the Este barchessa cost €260,000 to €291,000 and the three-bedroom units €755,000 to €795,000.
Along the reasonable price, the architectural charm and the verdant countryside, however, there is something else that makes these properties appealing: they are situated in an established, popular location.
“This would not be a speculative purchase,” says Travella. “In these uncertain times, people do not want to take a risk. Italy has a proven property track record of many years, an excellent infrastructure and of course is steeped in culture and history.”
For more information on the Este apartments and terraced units, contact Casa Travella on +44 (0) 1322 660988 or visit www.casatravella.com.