Antico portico nel silenzio delle campagne
Tra le colline moreniche che degradano verso il basso Lago di Garda, immerso in una campagna autentica fatta di campi coltivati e strade bianche, Caffarra Mediazioni propone in vendita un'opportunità rara: un antico portico rurale da reinventare completamente, destinato a chi cerca un progetto su misura e non una casa…
What it really costs
Can you move in?
Not before the basics are done
In the listingNeeds renovation- Registered as agricultural or storage, not as a dwelling
See what needs doing and what each job costs
Rural portico (portico rurale) in 'fatiscente' state requiring total renovation; currently agricultural with change-of-use to residential permitted but not yet completed, so not habitable. Price 110 EUR/m2 vs baseline median 382 EUR/m2 is well below market, a genuine discount. However the description admits ruin-like condition, quotes conflicting surfaces (240 vs 273 declared, expandable to 320), and lacks energy class and building year. Full gut renovation plus change-of-use on ~240-273m2 will cost roughly 1200-1400 EUR/m2, easily exceeding the purchase price. Attractive for a project buyer near Lago di Garda but high execution risk and unverified permits temper the score.
More on the house and the area
A ruined agricultural portico near the morainic hills toward Lake Garda, listed at just €30k for 273sqm. Current state (photos 1-6) is a collapsing open-sided rural structure with red-tile roof, overgrown fig tree, rubble, and safety fencing — no wow in its present condition. The pastoral countryside setting with open field horizon and distant hills provides genuine land/nature appeal, and the very low price plus renovation potential (expandable to ~320sqm) creates a bargain-effect draw. The last three images showing a stunning finished glass-and-stone conversion are clearly renderings, not reality, so they inflate expectations. Real wow depends entirely on future work; today it is a charming-potential ruin rather than a scroll-stopper.
All the services redone, bathrooms, kitchen, windows. The structure is left alone.
Turnkey, facade and insulation included.
Our read of the photos, €1,300/m², falls in this band.
Materials only, work you may do yourself€108,000 – €160,000
Wiring, water and sanitary work of any kind, heating, air conditioning and gas go to a registered firm by law, and so do flues and the air openings for gas appliances. That labour stays in the bill. Yours is the stripping out, plaster, paint, floors, tiling and carpentry.
Labour is 61% of a renovation price on average and 67% at the median, across 191 items of the Emilia-Romagna 2025 public price list. Materials are the rest. An averaged price list, not a quote.
Materials you buy yourself carry 22% VAT; supplied by the firm doing the work they go at the 10% renovation rate. On a €30,000 materials bill that is €3,600 of extra tax.
Household wiring installed before 13 March 1990 counts as compliant if it has a main breaker with overcurrent protection, protection against direct contact and a 30 mA RCD. Having a firm bring the existing wiring up to that and certify it is the cheapest lawful route.
Bringing a house that has stood empty back into service: new water, sewer and electricity, plus the practices. The same sum on an 80 m² house and on a 300 m² one, which is why a €40,000 house is not a €40,000 project.
Show more
Water 1,800 · sewer 2,500 · electricity 700–1,600 · CILA 1,000 · cadastral filing 500 · structural design 700 · Legge 10 report 900 · safety coordination 1,800
No mains drain: add €2,000–4,500 for a septic tank. Listings never say, so ask.
- Currently a fatiscent rural portico requiring total renovation, no beds/baths
- Last 3 photos are AI/CGI renderings labeled 'POTENZIALE RISTRUTTURAZIONE', not the actual state
- Change of use to residential permitted but full project needed
- Asbestos-like corrugated roof on outbuilding and debris pile visible
Estimate from the listing and its photos, not a survey. Treat it as the starting point for your own quotes. An Italian builder's quote is normally written without VAT and without design fees, so add about a quarter to any figure a firm gives you.
The area around
Location score 72/100The cluster sits in the morainic hills south of Lake Garda. Lake Garda is within about 10 km, with the southern shore at Peschiera del Garda and Desenzano del Garda the nearest larger centres with rail links, marinas, services and lakefront historic cores. The Mincio river starts at Peschiera and its plain opens immediately to the south-west. The southern end of the lake is known for vineyards, mixed farmland and the chain of glacial ridges left by the Garda moraine amphitheatre. Sirmione is nearby on the lake and is known for its historic peninsula and thermal waters. This part of the southern Garda area is one of the main Lugana wine zones.