Cassandra Kane, a former fashion designer, followed her intuition and moved to Florence, Italy, to study handbag design. She met her husband, Lorenzo Berchielli, and together they eventually found their dream three-bedroom apartment in a historic building.
In 2009, while in college, New Jersey-native Cassandra Kane, studied abroad in London and visited Tuscany during her spring break.
At the time, Berchielli was 33 and a firefighter. He was born and raised in Italy and lived in Florence. Kane knew the apartment they were in then would not be their forever home. They used money they received as wedding gifts to put towards a down payment and started house-hunting. They searched for apartments online and toured 30 of them in six months. On Christmas Eve 2023, Kane saw a listing for 420,000 euros. It was listed for sale by the owner — but didn't include any photos. A separate 172 square-feet garage was up for negotiation in the deal, too.
"Because somebody else was going to buy it and paint over the mural and that would have been a tragedy."stay in it until March 2024, which gave them time to find a rental since they wouldn't be closing on their new home until May 2024. They also wouldn't be able to move in until at least some of the renovations were complete.
"I did get a few really amazing things from it, but the jury is still out if it really was worth it because that was traumatic," Kane says. "Whatever state the apartment was in, we knew we had to move when we did. We had contractors for everything but we also had to do a lot of the work ourselves to make sure that it just kept moving," Kane says.
"My vision for this space is that it is a home filled with true artisan pieces and all the things that tell a story about our life and add richness and character to the space," she says."That's honestly my favorite part about living in Italy. It's why I started a brand. I love the hunt and I love finding unique pieces or artisan pieces that tell a story."
DESIGNER ITALY FLORENCE HOME RELATIONSHIP DREAM HOME
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bill Murray extends 2025 tour, adds two NY shows. Get tickets todayThe “Lost In Translation” screen icon swings into NYC on Feb. 15.
Read more »
MTA's latest 'solution' to $800M fare evasion scourge turns into train wreck as flood of NYC subway riders vault over turnstile spikesMTA's new subway spikes fail to deter turnstile jumpers at NYC station
Read more »
A look at the latest crop of top towers rising in NYCA new office tower at 350 Park Avenue will reshape the NYC skyline
Read more »
NYC fare evader vaults over MTA's new turnstile spikes at subway station less than 36 hours after installation: 'Don't give a f--k'NYPD officers patrol NYC subways
Read more »
Small showing at NYC People's March ahead of Trump inaugurationSmall NYC Women’s March forms as Trump heads back to office
Read more »
AccuWeather Alert: Sunday snow then an Arctic blastWinter storm warnings and advisories issued for NYC, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut
Read more »