Casa indipendente
Nel cuore della suggestiva Valle Elvo, nel comune di Sordevolo, a pochi passi dall’antico Oratorio di San Grato, storico edificio risalente al XIII secolo e ancora oggi meta di visitatori e punto di partenza di numerose escursioni tra i boschi e le montagne biellesi, proponiamo in vendita un’affascinante proprietà immersa nella quiete della natura. La posizione è estremamente riservata:...
What it really costs
See what needs doing and what each job costs
At €95,000 for 230 sqm, the asking price is only €413/sqm versus a low-stock baseline of €421/sqm, so the raw price is ordinary rather than discounted. Assuming renovation at about €700/sqm for a large country house with no clear habitable/renovated claim, the effective cost is about €1,113/sqm; the large size, 34 photos, garden/terrace, and attractive Valle Elvo setting keep it in the good range.
More on the house and the area
This feels like a real, substantial country house in a wonderfully green and secluded setting, with a handsome rustic exterior and a characterful brick-vaulted living room with fireplace. The house looks fully roofed, furnished and usable now, not a shell, though the bedrooms, bathroom and service areas are quite dated and could use refreshing. For €95k and 230 sqm, it has strong dream-home appeal because you could actually live there while improving it.
Certified wiring, water and drainage, a heat source, a roof that keeps the water out, one working bathroom. Facade, insulation, a second bathroom and the floors wait.
All the services redone, bathrooms, kitchen, windows. The structure is left alone.
Our read of the photos, €700/m², falls in this band.
Turnkey, facade and insulation included.
Materials only, work you may do yourself€46,000 – €81,000
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.
- No big panorama or open valley view shown
- Interiors are dated and a little dark despite being usable
- Some areas look utility/basic rather than polished
- Likely fairly secluded woodland access
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 Biellese Prealps rise immediately above Sordevolo, with the Mucrone ridge and the Oropa valley within the local landscape. The area is inside the Parco Naturale della Burcina Felice Piacenza, and the Oasi Zegna begins a short distance to the north-west in the upper Cervo valley. The nearest ski lifts are the Bielmonte lifts in the Oasi Zegna area, roughly a 35 to 45 minute drive depending on the exact starting point. Biella is the nearest town of size, with full services, a historic upper town at Biella Piazzo, and rail connections. The wider area is known for wool-textile manufacturing, for the Sacro Monte di Oropa above Biella, which is part of the UNESCO Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, and for the long-running Passione di Sordevolo religious performance.