Dimora storica nel cuore del Salento
Nel comune di Ruffano, in una posizione strategica a pochi minuti dal centro storico e da tutti i principali servizi, proponiamo in vendita un'elegante dimora storica degli anni '40, caratterizzata dalle suggestive volte a stella, autentico simbolo dell'architettura salentina. L'immobile, sviluppato su più livelli,…
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 €79,000 for 155 sqm, the ask is €510/sqm; with light habitable-updating costs of about €250/sqm, the effective cost is ~€760/sqm, slightly above the local baseline of €729/sqm. Strong features—historic character, terrace, garage, independent ground-floor unit, 26 photos, and Salento appeal 14 km from the sea—keep it attractive, but it is not a deep discount after renovation.
More on the house and the area
The wow here is inside: high star-vaulted ceilings, generous rooms and beautiful old patterned floors give it real Salento character. It is clearly a usable home now, with bathrooms, kitchen and furnished bedrooms, plus versatile ground-floor vaulted spaces and garage. The outside is modest and the house needs updating, so this feels more like a solid character home than a full dream-showstopper.
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€13,000 – €21,000
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.
- Exterior and street setting are fairly plain rather than picturesque.
- Needs maintenance/modernisation despite being habitable.
- No convincing panoramic view is shown in the photos.
- Some rooms feel dark and dated.
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 58/100This is the inland Salento plain, with low olive-growing countryside and scattered masserie between the Ionian and Adriatic sides of the peninsula. The nearest coast is the Ionian shore around Torre San Giovanni and Ugento, about 15 km away, with long sandy beaches and pine-backed stretches; the Adriatic coast is farther and does not count for the immediate setting. The nearest larger town is Casarano, which provides the main services, shops and rail connections for this part of southern Salento; Gallipoli is the nearest coastal town of size. Ugento, within the surrounding area, has a historic centre and an archaeological museum, and its coastal territory is what this area is most known for. The area is broadly known for olive groves, dry-stone rural landscape and access to the beaches of the lower Salento Ionian coast.