The PERFECT Italian town to find a Dream Home in (and to eat good food): Castiglione del Lago Umbria

I'm Marco, Italian househunter. Today's mission brings us to a beautiful and overlooked region in central Italy, Umbria, in the picturesque town of Castiglione del Lago, a jewel overlooking Lake Trasimeno, where we'll discover its art-filled Renaissance heritage, its jaw-dropping medieval military architecture, and the rest of its beautiful historical center. I've also discovered the best restaurant with local recipes for traditional handmade pasta, and, of course, two Italian dream homes for sale at half the price you'd find them for in Tuscany. Andiamo! Good morning. I'm coming to you from Castiglione del Lago in the region of Umbria. Gorgeous fortress, medieval city, very historic, very beautiful. It's definitely a place where we can find excellent dream homes. That's why I'm here. And get something good to eat. So let's go tour the town, and I'll show you the treasures that it holds. The atmosphere of Castiglione del Lago at sunrise is simply magic, a castle town suspended above an ancient lake slowly awakening to the sound of church bells and local shopkeepers opening their shutters. It's a town of 15,000 inhabitants, and its historic center is contained within 13th-century castle walls. Entering in through Porta Senese, you'll find yourself on Via Vittorio Emanuele, the main artery of the town which comes to life as residents open their windows and shops open their doors. Making your way further in, you'll find yourself in the main square, Piazza Mazzini, an ideal meeting point to get an espresso or gelato with a friend. The Dolce Vita requires a piazza with cafes and a clock tower, right? Around the corner is the church of St. Mary Magdalene, whose cupola and bell tower are the most recognizable landmarks of the town's beautiful skyline. It was built in a neoclassical style in the 1800s, above a pre-existing medieval church. What I found most impressive was the beautiful geometric designs of the dome and arches, along with the frescoes. There's also a very unique portrait from the original medieval church, appropriately called La Madonna del Latte. So this is what's called the Municipio, it's like town hall, and it's probably one of the most beautiful palazzi in all of Castiglione del Lago, with historical frescoes. It was built by one of the most powerful historical families of this town and it's definitely worth a visit. This is the Sala delle Gesta di Ascanio, Sala dell'Investitura. It's the most important room in this palace and it tells the story of Ascanio della Cornia, who built this palace. He was a soldier, he began his career as head of the papal army and then, over time, he became a mercenary. This is the most famous scene in this room, it's a duel between Ascanio and one of his soldiers, one of his subordinates, called Giannetto Taddei. It's important because you can see how many people went to attend this duel This is the Sala degli Dei, another room in this palace. The frescoes represent the gods of Olympus. In the center we have Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, all the gods of Olympus, and underneath we have the zodiacal signs. So I'm inside the wall, this leads us directly into the castle from the palazzo and it's never-ending, you keep on walking and walking. If you're claustrophobic, just enter the castle from the other side. So we're at the top of the castle and Castiglione, Castiglione, it's called that because it's named after this castle, Castello Castiglione, so it's a big castle. And the history of the castle is that the city was destroyed in the 13th century and it was rebuilt kind of as a fortified castle overlooking the lake. The city was built, in the meantime, on the inside of the castle walls and from here we probably have the best view of Lake Trasimeno and we're at the highest point of the lake while we're up here. So I'm in the process of making my own website, TrustyMiddleE.com, and it's been complicated so far because making a website isn't always easy. But I've just teamed up with Squarespace, the sponsor of this video, and with their platform, it's really, really simple. And so I wanted to show you an example of how easy it is to use their templates to get off and running with your own website creation journey. We're on Squarespace.com, get started. By choosing the type of website you want, Squarespace automatically proposes for you the most appropriate templates that would be good for that. And they're really, really beautiful. So let's say I'm creating a website that has to do with a portfolio. This is a really beautiful one. Let's call it the best photography site. With it, you can sell physical goods. You can drive traffic to your site with all of the most advanced tools that you would need for something like that and manage all of your business. So this is your website. You don't have to make any decisions about where to put what and what looks good and what doesn't look good. You already have something that looks very, very good. And from here, you can start substituting and making your own personalized website. So head to squarespace.com just immediately to get a free trial and then 10% off your purchase of a domain or website. Okay, guys, so we've been transported to Palazzo Barbini in the heart of Castiglione del Lago. We're actually right in front of the cathedral. And this is actually where I'm staying while I'm here, and it's this beautiful palazzo, historical palazzo, in the heart of the city. So I thought, hey, I should give you some tips of where you should be staying when you go to see places like this on my videos. So let's go have a look. Beautiful frescoes, historical tiles, beautiful historic stairwell. Check. And then I am on the top floor here. Thank you. Ignore my luggage, but this is the main suite. We have the beautiful ceilings, frescoes on the wall, this massive mirror in the middle right above the fireplace, which I'm in love with. Amazing kitchen. So you can stay here for weeks on end and cook to your heart's delight. Being a suite, we have the bedrooms. This is bedroom number one. Beautiful tiles, guys. Beautiful furniture. That's the bathroom in the back. That's bedroom number one. This over here is once again another gorgeous bedroom. Bedroom number two. Another bathroom in the back. But the real surprise, guys, is up this way to the rooftop terrace. And this is a big yes. Oh, yes. And if this is not the best spot in town, I don't know what is. Pranzo. It's time for lunch, my favorite time of day. As you can see, the restaurant that I'm going to is right in the same palazzo where I'm staying, Palazzo Barbini, and it's one of the best restaurants in Castione del Lago because they make pasta fresh right in front of you as you order. And I love pasta. Ciao, Marco. Come stai? Bene, e tu? Bene, bene. Benvenuto nel nostro ristorante. Allora, il nostro ristorante, come avrai notato, è molto famoso per la pasta fatta a mano. Noi facciamo tutti i tipi di pasta fatta a mano, con tutti i sughi. Ovviamente, il nostro cavallo di battaglia è il ragù di Chianina perché avendo la carne Chianina, il ragù è, diciamo, il top della scuola alimentare della pasta. Fantastico. Andiamo. Perfetto. Grazie. Prego. The elementary school of pasta, whose teachers in hospitality were the wonderful waitress Linda and the maestra Daniela, who gives a free masterclass in pasta making to all who enter. She expertly makes all pasta for the day by hand, the main types being the typical spaghetti-like pici, tortellacci, a type of stuffed pasta, and tagliatelle. Ingredients for sauces come from local producers and are often seasonal. It's evident that cuisine is a point of pride in Umbria. I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. Here it is, Marco. This is a potato and pumpkin cake that is mixed with egg and parmesan. It's baked in the oven and covered with Pecorino di Forza cheese. It's something exceptional. It's really, really good. I can taste the porcini mushrooms with this delicious crunchiness on the outside and the Pecorino cheese sauce. Really, really good, as to be expected. So these were the pici, the pasta that she was making by hand before. It's kind of like a spaghetti pasta, a bit thicker, made from similar wheat. What's really nice about them is the texture. It's got this very al dente texture naturally to it. And the ragu is made from a Chianina beef, which is the typical type of cows that they have in this area. This is comfort food. Really, really good. It was a great note to finish on. The sweet note. So I've just made it to the street where the beautiful first palazzo that we're going to be visiting today is located. It's in the heart of Castiglione del Lago. So let's go see the agent who should be waiting for us down that way and see what this home is all about. Ciao Jacopo. Ciao Marco. Come stai? Tutto bene, tutto bene. So I'm excited to see the beautiful palazzo that we've chosen for today. The idea is to see one inside the historical center of Castiglione del Lago and then we chose another one that we'll go see outside. But first, tell me a bit about yourself, maybe about your agency. I'm Jacopo. I'm 20 years old and I work for the real estate agency of my father. The name is Euro Immobiliare and it's an historical agency of our territory. So this is a home from the 1800s at least? Yeah, at least, yes. An historical palazzo and we are in the center, the historic center of Castiglione del Lago. Named as one of uno dei borghi più belli d'Italia. One of the most beautiful villages in Italy. So we'll enter in via the front door. You've seen the beautiful facade on this building. It's a 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom townhouse. 200 square meters. The asking price is €370,000. And as we walk in here, we're on the ground floor and one of the characteristics of this home is its luminosity. There's windows everywhere. You have the beautiful brick vaulted ceilings. Very typical of this Tuscany, Umbria region. And you've seen the just a hint there at the living area. We do have a full bathroom on this floor. So that includes a shower, toilet bidet. So a full Italian bathroom. And on the other side of this ground floor, you also have the main kitchen. So I'll give you a peek at that. It is a modern kitchen. This whole building, although historic, has been recently remodeled. So it's a fully functioning kitchen. A very practical one. And from it, you have a view out of this beautiful front window onto the street. So a characteristic about this kitchen is that little island there on the corner. Perfect to eat at. And you can see very interesting are the arches that are really characteristic of the home and that we'll see all throughout. We will head down into the basement now. This is, I think, the real surprise of the property and that which makes it very unique. It's a fully livable space. And you can see they have these very characteristic brick arches. We can, however, head out the back. And as you can see, there's a back street out of the basement. So although it's a basement, it's also another ground floor. Castellón del Agua is built on a bit of a hill, a small mountain, and so the front level is at a higher level than the lower one. But we will head back in. I want to show you what this basement is all about. See, we have kind of two sides. This left side is more of a relaxation area. So there's currently a table, some chairs in it, a TV there in the back. It can very easily be replaced with a couch. So a full kind of relaxation area there. Right next to the pool. So you have a fully functioning pool here in your basement, which is spectacular. Also, the upkeep on it, the walls, the reveal stone, the ceilings is spectacular. Also heard, although I couldn't use them, were the hydro massage jets on them. Head back up. As you can see, we have the inbuilt closets there. Perfect for storage. You always need storage in homes, never to be overlooked. I always mention that. And we'll go up these stairs. So that is the door, kind of this middle floor door, which we saw from the backside facade. And you actually have stairs going up either side. So this is another unique trait of this home that we're seeing now, is the openness of the floors. You have this steel railing going around it. And it leaves open all of the light coming in from the windows on all of the floors. From windows which are beautifully arched in the original style, but fixed with those new wooden fixtures. Very high quality material. So this is the main bedroom on this first floor. This is the suite. So it comes with a full bathroom once again. This has a shower hidden here behind the corner. Another aspect about this home is that it is heated, so you have heating as well. And this is the kind of relaxation reading area as it's set up now currently. Very cozy space and obviously with all the light coming in, it's kind of a perfect location to sit down and get a read in. This will be the second bedroom on this floor. So this will be the secondary bedroom, currently being used as kind of a big walk-in closet. But could also be a study, a kid's bedroom, or a guest bedroom. And we'll go up these very elegant stairs. I love the windows. And reveal to you what we have here on this side. So you can see there's also an air conditioning unit built in. So we have the gas heating, the air conditioning. So it's fully climatized, so perfect to live in through all year. Very practical. And on this level we have what would be the extra bedroom. Currently set up as an extra bedroom. With the closets built all around there on the side, giving plenty of storage space. And another full bathroom here. A toilet, a bidet, and a potentially very cinematic shower. So this was the first find in Castiglione del Lago. I hope you really liked it. Historical, beautiful. And I have something just as interesting, if not more, for house number two. Andiamo! So this next house is right outside of the main part of Castiglione del Lago, out on the hills. And so we're taking the car to get down there now. Should have some pretty views along the way. So Jacopo, what do we have here as the second home of the day? Yes, Marco, it's a pleasure to welcome you in this beautiful historical palazzo that was built in 1810. Owned by a famous and historical family of this area. The Romizzi family. And now it's time to take a look at the property. Awesome. Alright, so we're starting the tour in the garden. Just a note, we're in Petrignano, a hamlet of Castiglione del Lago, on the border with Tuscany and Cortona. It's actually right down the road. And here we have the garden surrounding this noble palace. It's a garden of 1,500 square meters. And more than a garden, it's more of a private park. It's with walls all around it and some of the trees are over 100 years old. So that's the entrance into the house. There's actually an annex right next to it here that is to be renovated. It won't be included on our tour, but it is another massive space. The entryway to the park is from this gateway. And we'll head now to the main palazzo itself. It's from the 1700s. Extremely beautiful. 900 square meters of property over 3 floors. The asking price is 490,000 euros. As we're accustomed to, we have our floor plan backed by popular demand and we're being represented by the plate of pici al dragoo that we had for lunch. As you can see, we walked in. There's beautiful stained glass above that entry door. And we're into the main living space. Very historical. We have the historical elements from the epoch in which this building was built. So we have the colta floors. This is a type of brick flooring. Brick tile flooring. Typical of the area. These beautiful brick arches going through the sections of the of this room. And the wooden beams with the brick ceilings as well. Also to note, the frescoes along the borders of the wall as well. So this is an interesting characteristic of the living room. It gives you direct entryway into what can be a mini wine cellar. You don't find that in homes that you have every day. So a little nook there. Store your wines. Maybe some olive oil. And we have a beautiful fireplace here around this corner of the main living room. Really beautiful. This is historical and already has and still has the painting that was from the stem of the noble family who built it. So this is one of the unique characteristics of this property. The frescoes that you have going all around it. Very typical of the 1700s, 1800s all the way up to the beginning of the 1900s as well. So this was a peek into the main living room. This brings us into this internal room which could be used as a very elegant dining room but also as kind of a reception area. We have the original flooring. These are the cementina tiles so cement tiles. And around it you have these historical portraits of the noble family who lived here. This is another example of the stained glass that we have on these inside doors as well. And from there it brings us into the kitchen. Now this property was recently renovated just a little time ago. So this kitchen is in excellent condition. We have these stone countertops. This really beautiful stone basin and the painted tiles there on the wall. Very nice. This brings us into what is currently being used as the dining room. Original tiles here as well. And that beautiful brick arch there on the back wall. Like in the kitchen before, the ceilings are the same wooden beams but they've been painted white kind of giving it a lighter style to it. This will bring us now up to the next floor. Walk by there the exit way, entryway from the park. Just to note that this building is fully heated so you have heating on all floors and in all rooms. And here we are on the first floor. This first floor contains a really big bathroom. This has been completed with that recent renovation. A beautiful bathtub there in the corner and the shower there on that other corner. The flooring here is original as well. And this floor has three bedrooms. Total three bedrooms and an internal living room. So this is the living room with an antique piano, also very nice. Wooden beams painted white there on the top. And we'll have a peek here in the back left. This is the smallest of the bedrooms on this floor but very interesting because of the beautiful, well-maintained frescoes there on the ceiling. And we'll head to the other side where we have the other two bedrooms. These are the bigger of the two bedrooms. This one is interesting because it has a wooden floor, still very historic, and it's much bigger than the other one. So more of a main bedroom. And to the front here is also a very interesting solution. A bedroom but with there we go, the arch there with the natural light coming in from a small balcony. So this would be the main bedroom on this floor. And this is a view onto the park that we just came from below. And I'll actually give you a view of the park. Not from here but an even better one from the stairs. So now we're going up the stairs. And you may have recalled from below, if not we have a gorgeous very big balcony here. Kind of the master balcony giving you the main view. Absolutely gorgeous historical Umbrian architecture here. And you can see how big some of those trees are. These are hundreds year old trees some of them. So very beautiful. Very much so a botanical garden. Giving you plenty of shade in the summer and even reprive from rain on the kind of rainy day that we had here filming the rainy afternoon at least while we were filming this property. This is the second floor. As you can see the renovation hadn't been completed on this one. Although it still contains very interesting elements which are to be maintained the frescoes on the wall there. But in this room itself I believe there are the best frescoes of the whole property with the little angel, the circles of the historical kind of rustic architecture that you would find. All those elements that you would get in the frescoes from that era. And then moving up the stairs this is our last floor. We were actually made our way into the top of that little tower in the center of the building. And this has been fully restored. And this is kind of what can give you an idea of what the whole property can be like when it's been renovated up to like a modern standard while maintaining everything. We have the wooden beams with the brick ceilings. We have this brick tile floor. And the beautiful fixtures of the arched windows all around. All brand new. And this gives us actually a spectacular view of the botanical park around us. In the distance you can actually see Lake Trasimeno as well. If you're interested in this property or the previous property that I've shown, please write me an email at marcoatjustremiddeley.com and I can put you in touch with the agent. A special thanks to my Patreon members who support the work I do on this channel. Guys, like, subscribe, comment what you thought about this episode and be on the lookout for justremiddeley.com Ciao! Until next time.