Rustico indipendente con giardino
In una delle zone più caratteristiche e riservate di Cravagliana, nella suggestiva Frazione Selva, proponiamo in vendita un rustico indipendente immerso nella quiete della natura, raggiungibile esclusivamente a piedi. L'abitazione si sviluppa su tre livelli. Al piano terra troviamo un bagno completo con doccia, WC e…
What it really costs
Can you move in?
Livable, but something basic is worn out
In the listingHabitableSee what needs doing and what each job costs
At €22,000 for 116 sqm, the asking price is just €190/sqm, but the house is described as habitable rather than renovated and access is only on foot, so I assume about €250/sqm in works, bringing the effective cost to about €440/sqm. That is still reasonable for this stock versus the €265/sqm baseline, with value from independence, garden and mountain/lake setting, but the difficult access limits the upside.
More on the house and the area
This has real mountain-rustic charm: a detached old farmhouse in lush greenery with a balcony outlook, garden, stream-side setting and lovely timber-beam character. It is not a ruin—there are floors, windows, a fireplace, rooms and a bathroom—but the house is clearly worn, damp in places and only basically habitable. Dreamy as a secluded mountain retreat, yet it needs substantial refreshing before it feels truly comfortable to live in.
Decoration, tired fittings, a bathroom or a kitchen. The house is liveable as it stands.
Our read of the photos is €250/m². There is no published price band below €350/m², so the range is that figure widened by the spread of the lightest band.
Materials only, work you may do yourself€10,000 – €16,000
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.
- Reachable only on foot
- Interiors are habitable but very tired, with damp/peeling finishes
- Upper/storage areas look rough and partly utility-like rather than finished living space
- Likely needs a full refresh and checks to services/heating
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 68/100The cluster is in the upper Val Sessera/Val Mastallone side of the Valsesia area, with the Pennine Alps close by and steep wooded mountain slopes around the villages. The Sesia valley system is the main landscape reference of this part of northern Vercelli province, with the river further east down the valley. The Alta Valsesia e Alta Val Strona regional park is nearby in the upper valley system. The nearest ski area is Alagna Valsesia on Monte Rosa, roughly an hour by mountain road, so it is not part of the immediate landscape. Varallo is the nearest town of size, with services and the Sacro Monte di Varallo UNESCO site. This area is known for alpine valleys, small stone-built hamlets and woodland-pasture landscapes rather than for a single nationally famous landmark within the immediate radius.