8623 Major renovation

An Italian girlfriend took me over to see the house that she and her brother were left last year by their grandmother. It's huge - approaching 600m2 - but abandoned by Nonna two decades ago and in recent years only been slept in by sheep. In a wonderful position overlooking the Val d'Orcia, their initial idea was to turn it in to two apartments, one for each of them. Only problem: neither of them is prepared to go through the nightmare of major renovation. Bear in mind their family has lived in the area for generations - they're big landowners, they actually own an entire hamlet. They know the system, people who could do the work, etc., etc. They have (just about) enough cash between them but still they're not prepared to do it. ("It will take ten years and I don't know how many times to court before it is completed" my girlfriend reckons.) So instead, although they haven't dared mention it to their mother yet, they're toying with selling. There's a chance an Italian might buy it but they both believe the more likely purchaser will be a foreigner. Probably British, "because you are the only ones crazy enough". Not strictly true because we both know an American woman (on her own) and a Dutch couple doing the same in the area. But most people who go down this road are Brits. Are we crazy? V