Loraine Bracco dreamed of turning her one-euro wreck into a warm, inviting home. She says she’s had many homes in her life, and she considers it a “huge compliment” when visitors tell her: “Oh, it’s so homey here, it’s so warm. … It’s a house I’d like to live in.”
She says this house struck her as one that had potential – in addition to having good bones, it was situated on a corner, which allowed for plenty of light. And she was blown away by the craftsmanship.
“When I went in, I saw these beautiful tiled floors under three inches of dust and dirt,” she recalls. “And I was like, oh, this. This is beautiful. … The people who built this house — God bless them — they were incredible artists, they did everything by hand. There was no sheetrock. They did everything with plaster. … It’s amazing.”
Now over a year removed from the renovation, Bracco says her expectations were exceeded. She’d recommend a project like this to others — but with a qualifier.
“You’ve got to have a lot of b…s,” she said with a laugh. “You’ve got to have patience and you’ve got to know what you want to do. I didn’t have a lot of changing-of-the-heart kind of thing. I was very specific in what I wanted it to look like and how I wanted it to feel, so that was good. But yes, are you kidding? The town is magnificent, the people are unbelievably beautiful and wonderful and welcoming. It was really an incredible experience.”