On a Sunday morning in Comano, you wake to the sound of church bells drifting up from the piazza 150 metres away. The air through the bedroom window carries woodsmoke and cut grass, and somewhere below, the family-run bar is already grinding its first espresso. This is not a fantasy. This is an ordinary morning at this restored hillside house in the Taverone valley — a corner of Lunigiana, Tuscany, that most tourists haven't found yet and locals are quietly glad about.
The house sits on the edge of a small, tight-knit village community, the kind where people actually know each other, where the restaurant at the heart of the village has been run by the same family for decades, and where showing up as a forestiero doesn't mean you stay one for long. At 80 square metres across two floors, the layout is practical and well thought out. You enter through a hallway that opens into a kitchen and a light-filled living room on the ground floor, alongside a full bathroom. Head upstairs and two attic double bedrooms share a second bathroom — a setup that works equally well for a couple wanting a proper bolthole or a small family with kids who'll spend most of their time outside anyway.
The outdoor space is where this property earns its keep. A courtyard with a barbecue setup becomes the natural centre of evening life in summer. Beyond it, roughly 1,000 square metres of land — about a quarter of an acre — includes a chestnut wood that comes into its own in October, when the nuts drop and the forests around the Taverone valley take on that particular amber glow that photographers come from across Europe to chase. Views from the land stretch across the valley toward the Apennines, the kind of views that make you stand still for a moment before you've even realised you've stopped walking. A small garage at the village entrance is included, needing some repair work, along with a garden and orchard area.
The restoration has been done thoughtfully — this isn't a project requiring years of work before you can use it. It's move-in ready, which matters enormously for buyers who want to start spending weekends here rather than spending weekends managing builders.
The geography of the surrounding area is, frankly, exceptional for a property at this price point. The village sits in the Taverone valley between Licciana Nardi and Comano, two small towns that between them cover everything you actually need day to day. Licciana Nardi is about ten minutes by car, its 13th-century cobbled pedestrian lane flanked with proper local shops rather than souvenir stalls, and its Piazza del Municipio anchored by the 16th-century Malaspina castle — a squat, serious piece of medieval architecture linked to its baroque church by a covered bridge. The town hosts the Sagra delle Castagne, the Chestnut Festival, every autumn — an event that involves fire pits, local wine, roasted chestnuts by the bagful, and the sort of village-square energy you can't manufacture. There's also a summer sports festival that the locals call the Olympics, which is exactly as endearing as it sounds. Licciana Nardi has a bank, medical facilities, and schools, so it functions as a proper service hub, not just a pretty face.
Comano, at the head of the valley, is backed by the Apennine Mountains in a way that makes the surrounding landscape feel genuinely dramatic without being oppressive. Marked walking trails fan out from the town into the hills — serious routes for hikers, but also easy afternoon loops that reward you with ridge-top views over chestnut forests and terraced farmland. The town hosts an annual horse festival each summer, a chaotic, joyful event that brings the whole valley together. And the nearby river and streams along the Taverone offer swimming spots that locals have been using for generations — clear, cold water on a hot August afternoon that no beach club can compete with.
Five kilometres from the house, the larger village of Crespiano has a bakery, a bar-restaurant, and a grocer. You won't need to drive 45 minutes for bread. Aulla, 15 kilometres away, has a train station and supermarkets, which means arriving here without a car is genuinely viable and reaching the wider rail network for longer Italian journeys is straightforward.
Then there's the coast. Lerici is 40 kilometres away — a proper Ligurian harbour town with coloured houses climbing the hill above a bay full of sailing boats, and some of the best seafood restaurants on this stretch of the Italian Riviera. Order the muscoli ripieni, the stuffed mussels, and eat them on a terrace looking out at the water. The Cinque Terre is 45 kilometres away, which means the famous pebble coves at Corniglia or Monterosso are a manageable day trip rather than a dedicated holiday. The point is: this property gives you access to two entirely different landscapes — mountain valley life on your doorstep and Mediterranean coastline within the hour.
For buyers thinking about accessibility from abroad, three airports sit within a reasonable drive: Pisa at 95 kilometres (roughly an hour), Parma at a similar distance to the north, and Genova covering the northwest. That breadth of options makes flying in from most major European cities genuinely convenient.
Lunigiana itself sits in a corner of Tuscany that has managed to remain authentically agricultural while the better-known Chianti and Val d'Orcia regions have grown increasingly polished. The landscape is dotted with Malaspina and Medici castles on nearly every hilltop — over 40 of them across the territory. The food culture is robust and unpretentious: the local pasta is testaroli, a flat disc cooked in a terracotta pan and served with pesto or walnut sauce; the cured meats are cured in the old way. Farm restaurants, what the Italians call agriturismi, are scattered across the surrounding hills, and the best of them serve multi-course lunches for a fraction of what you'd pay in Siena or Florence for half the quality.
For the international buyer, this is an accessible entry point into the Tuscan property market — well under six figures for a restored, liveable house with land and genuine community around it. Italy's purchase process for non-residents is well-established, and property lawyers experienced with foreign buyers operate out of both Aulla and Massa. The rental market for authentic rural Lunigiana properties has grown steadily as travellers increasingly seek out villages over villa complexes, meaning there is credible short-term rental income potential through platforms serving the slow-travel and agriturismo tourism segments.
Key features at a glance:
- Restored 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom house in a hilltop village, move-in ready
- 80 sqm of practical living space across two floors
- Ground floor: entrance hall, kitchen, bright living room, bathroom
- First floor: two attic double bedrooms and a second bathroom
- Outdoor courtyard with barbecue, ideal for summer entertaining
- Approximately 1,000 sqm of land including a chestnut wood
- Views toward the Apennine Mountains from the property grounds
- Small garage included at the village entrance (requires repair)
- Garden and orchard area included in the landholding
- 150m from the village piazza with church and family-run bar-restaurant
- 10 minutes to Licciana Nardi (castle, shops, medical facilities, bank)
- 10 minutes to Comano (walking trails, horse festival, sports facilities)
- 40km to Lerici beaches, 45km to Cinque Terre
- Three international airports within approximately 90 minutes: Pisa, Parma, Genova
- Priced at €90,000 — exceptional value for a restored Tuscan property with land
If you've been looking for a second home in Italy that doesn't feel like a set piece, somewhere with real village life and a landscape that changes properly with the seasons, this house in Lunigiana deserves a serious look. Reach out through Homestra today to arrange a viewing — this valley rewards the people who show up in person.
