Most people don’t seek out an architecture firm until after they’ve bought a home. Geraldine Vergara found hers before she even knew she needed one.

It happened on an ordinary afternoon in Cesena, a town near Geraldine’s home in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. While her daughter was at violin lessons, Geraldine wandered past a small studio with gleaming resin floors and felt compelled to step inside. “I told them I liked the floor,” she recalls. “My Italian wasn’t great, but I asked what the material was.”

She had unknowingly stepped into the office of architect Cinzia Mondello, who works at the firm Tisselli Studio Architetti.

That moment stayed with her. So when Geraldine, a New York native, and her Italian husband, Nicola, discovered and purchased a one-bedroom apartment in the hillside town of Longiano (just a few minutes’ drive from home), she knew exactly who to call. “Don’t bother looking for an architect,” she told Nicola. “I already found ours.”

By chance, the apartment sat on the same street where Nicola’s late father once owned property. “It felt like a sign,” she recalls. “Like something, or someone, was guiding us there.”

Inside, the building was a maze of tiny rooms divided into three stacked units, including a narrow garage barely wide enough for a car. “It was all chopped up and boxed in,” Geraldine says. “Very claustrophobic.” The place had clearly sat empty for years. “It was just a shell,” she adds, “but we were drawn to its location in the heart of the village, and the views from almost every corner of the apartment.”

Tisselli Studio drew up plans to completely reconfigure the layout and open it into a calm, spacious one-bedroom retreat. “We trusted them to bring the beauty back,” she says.

€80,000 Land	€150,000 Site Work	€10,000 Wall Finishes
€15,000 Flooring	€10,000 Electrical	€30,000 Plumbing
€10,000 Lighting	€60,000 Cabinetry	€15,000 Furnishings & Decor
Grand Total: €380,000 (approximately $414,600)

The property itself was a bargain at €80,000, but that was the last of the easy wins. Structural and construction work added another €150,000, and by the time custom cabinetry, lighting, and furnishings were included, the total spend neared €380,000.

“There were definitely some painful moments,” Geraldine explains. “The paperwork with the local council dragged on forever. Ours was the only renovation in town, but still, nothing moved quickly, and very little made sense.” Permits stalled construction, and navigating bureaucracy became a full-time job.

But there was no deadline, so the couple allowed the project to grow slowly, on its own terms. They intended the apartment to serve as a rifugio—a part-time hideaway, part gallery, and a space for their daughter, Carolina, to eventually make her own. It wasn’t designed for everyday living, so there was no rush to break ground.

“We gave the project space to breathe,” Geraldine adds. “We wanted ideas to come naturally, not be forced.” Case in point: The room earmarked for Carolina remained undefined for years. “We debated whether to split it into two rooms or add a study nook,” Geraldine says. “In the end, we left it open and let her decide.”

At 18, Carolina uses the apartment to host friends or unwind with family during breaks from life in Milan—and her parents use it for work or the occasional gathering.

The design landed somewhere between contemporary and classic, with subtle nods to the historic town outside. “The architects were focused on context, and they wanted to reflect Longiano’s heritage,” Geraldine explains. “We, however, wanted it to feel fresh and open—less decorative, more relaxed.”

The apartment features pieces from their private art collection alongside contemporary Italian furnishings like the Sofa Shangai by Carlo Colombo in the living room, and Giro Pivot pendant lamps in Carolina’s room. Some design decisions were up for debate, but the resin floor wasn’t one of them. At €15,000, it was a splurge Nicola hadn’t quite expected,

“Cinzia Mondello’s studio floor stayed in my head for years,” Geraldine says. “I knew I wanted the same resin for this project.” Nicola had imagined something more traditional. “He was thinking wood or tile,” she says. “He wasn’t expecting resin, but he came around when he saw how easy it is to maintain.”

“I’ve seen a lot of houses in Italy,” Geraldine adds. “This one doesn’t look like any of them, and that’s exactly what we wanted.”

While they’re proud of what they pulled off, Geraldine and Nicola admit they’d take a different path next time. “We’d go for new construction,” she says. “It’s easier to plan costs when you’re not dealing with layers of history and red tape.”

More Budget Breakdown stories:

A Brutalist Behemoth Left Deserted for Decades Comes Back to Life for €102K

They Turned a Shed Into an Off-Grid Island Home for €257K

This $250K Prefab Cabin Is an Ode to the Finnish Sauna

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Tisselli Studio Architetti / @tissellistudioarchitetti

Structural and Civil Engineer: Studio Cober

Landscape, Lighting, Interior, and Cabinetry Design: Tisselli Studio Architetti

Custom Furniture: Vuesse Arredi

Windows: Falegnameria G.F. di Gabriele Frassineti