We begin a new series about home ownership, sharing true stories of people who have gone through the process of buying a property in Italy to give readers an idea of what to expect - because 'la dolce vita' in real life can be much more different than the fantasy suggests, and being prepared will go a long way in helping you deal with all that comes with buying a house abroad. 

Today, we speak to Stefania and Roger, who bought and restored a historic villa in Tuscany and transformed it into a B&B. When British-Italian couple Stefania and Roger saw Villa San Michele, a 17th-century farmhouse in Tuscany’s Val d’Elsa, it was – almost – love at first sight. Roger, a Brit, could visualize the finished project – turning the villa into a bed and breakfast; Stefania saw the beauty and the potential, but, being Italian, she mainly saw ‘bureaucracy’.