Come on, admit it. You’ve dreamed of owning an Italian country house. Plaster walls, a big kitchen, and a vine-draped courtyard where you can enjoy aperitivi while admiring the view and enjoying the tranquility, and where you can step out your door and walk amidst the ordered rows of vines of your very own vineyard. Anyone who has read the colorful memoirs of moving to Italy has implanted this kind of idyllic vision in their minds.
What’s that you say? Can’t justify buying a vineyard estate in a foreign country? The dream can still be yours, right at home in the good ol’ U.S. of A. My dear friends, Maria and Bob, are selling their beautiful home in the quaint village of Corrales, New Mexico. Maria is the daughter of an Italian immigrant and has infused so much Old World charm into the place that, I swear, it could be in southern Italy.
To reach the property you drive along a rambling road that skirts the Rio Grande through the historic adobe-constructed core of Corrales, where you find cafes and eateries, funky art galleries and a general store that carries the likes of balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and pesto sauce, not to mention some seasonal, locally-grown produce. You pass small family-owned farms and estates with horses and llamas in the pastures. Stress melts away as you drive under the canopy of time-weathered cottonwood trees.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that this house really feels like home. We spent our last few nights in New Mexico here while enjoying the hospitality of our friends (who cooked up big Italian feasts in the sizeable kitchen lit by Venetian glass pendant lights). It is a fabulous house, comfortable and warm and unpretentious. It blends Italian-style appeal with typically-New Mexican adobe and charm, along with big-sky views. It is the kind of place we would have liked to own if we’d not chosen to move here.
So if you are looking to satisfying your dream for a lovely house surrounded by vineyards, take a look at Bob and Maria’s place. Can’t you just smell the sauce cooking?
More About Corrales:
Corrales Village Site
Money Magazine Article
Corrales Winery
A Vendemmia at Bob and Maria's
Fourth of July in Corrales
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4 comments:
Valerie, the link to Bob and Maria's place doesn't work. I'd love to see it!
Donna
Hi Donna,
Thanks for the heads-up. It's fixed!
Valerie
This is our dream place--but, stables and vineyard are too much for us. Casey would love it!! Maybe?
Jane, the stables are only too much work if you fill them! ;) Casey would *love* this place! (So would his dog.)
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