STALLA E FIENILE con ampio giardino
TRINITA'= Nel piccolo borgo di Monchio delle Olle, ti proponiamo una stalla con fienile del 1962 e con circa 600 mq di verde privato. La stalla è accatastata come c/2 è disposta su due livelli Al piano terra ingresso su porta morta attualmente utilizzata come garage, ed ex stalla mantenuta in modo eccellente. Mentre al…
What it really costs
Can you move in?
Livable, but something basic is worn out
In the listingHabitable- Registered as agricultural or storage, not as a dwelling
- On the market for a long time
See what needs doing and what each job costs
The description clearly says this is a former stable/barn and is cadastral category C/2, so it is not a legal dwelling as listed; that is a veto red flag regardless of the €42,000 asking price. It has also been on the market 751 days, confirming weak market acceptance.
More on the house and the area
The plot is pleasant, with a usable private garden and some gentle countryside around it, and the €42k price has obvious appeal. But the building shown is an ex-stable/barn with solid structure and roof rather than a ready home: the interiors are large raw storage spaces with no visible residential fit-out. This feels more like a good conversion project than an immediately dreamable live-in Italian house.
All the services redone, bathrooms, kitchen, windows. The structure is left alone.
Turnkey, facade and insulation included.
Our read of the photos, €1,100/m², falls in this band.
Materials only, work you may do yourself€40,000 – €59,000
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.
- Not currently a residential home: cadastral category is C/2 ex-stable/barn.
- No bathroom or kitchen shown, so full conversion work is likely needed.
- Interiors are raw utility/agricultural spaces rather than finished living rooms.
- Roadside village setting with overhead wires; only limited rural views.
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 71/100The area is in the northern Apennines, in the hills of the Reggio Emilia province. The Secchia valley lies to the east and the Enza valley to the west, and the landscape around Casina is a mix of wooded slopes, pasture and small cultivated clearings. Pietra di Bismantova, the isolated sandstone massif above Castelnovo ne' Monti, is within the local area and is the main named natural feature. Much of this part of the Apennines falls within the Parco Nazionale dell'Appennino Tosco-Emiliano. The nearest town of some size is Castelnovo ne' Monti, which has the main local services and shops for the mountain area. The zone is known for Parmigiano Reggiano production and for the Matildic castles of the Reggio hills, including the castle remains at Sarzano near Casina.