My Philosophy
I understand houses — their limits and their possibilities.
It is easy and wise to look until the right house comes around, a house that does not need radical transformation, but appreciation.
I enjoy showing my clients many properties and not rushing them into buying something that is not quite right. And I send them in prepared: pre-approved by a respected financial institution, often from one of the many solid local banks that are among our region’s great resources.
For people who want a fixer-upper, I tap into a large network of professionals who can restore a dwelling to its old splendor and properly update “important stuff” like plumbing, electricity and heating. For those who want a brand-new house, I can lead them to state-of-the-art properties in welcoming neighborhoods.
If you are a seller I’d love to have a conversation and give you a free market analysis. I pledge once again to really spend time understanding your house—to find the best market for it and the most compelling way to advertise its strengths.
My Story
I was a determined 19-year-old Italian kid who in four years managed to become fluent in English, complete art school and get myself into a prestigious MFA program.
I then became a full-time professor of photography and a dedicated artist with a modest but solid career. However, I have another side—one that needs to find refuge from abstract thinking and the self-absorption of art practice. For that, I buy and restore houses.
I bought my first apartment in Milan in 1990, in a 1940 Neoclassical building near the Parco Solari. The original owner had lived in it for 50 years, so it was like entering a time warp. I made the down payment, and my two best friends lived in it and paid the mortgage. We found an old vintage metal kitchen, had it repainted at a body shop and completed it with a solid large, freestanding ceramic sink. We repainted and restored the wooden doors and their glass panels, polished the brass knobs, waxed the hexagonal floor tiles. We felt like we had made an incredible space out of our ability to recognize its beauty and our resourcefulness.
“Buying, restoring and occupying that home provided our official entry into the adult world. The ritual of appreciating the historical past through labor made us feel grounded. Ten years later, the apartment sold in a week.”
In the early ’90s, living in Texas, I bought a Sears bungalow 20 miles east of Austin. That house taught me about pier-and-beam foundations, knob-and-tube electric systems, scraping off stubborn old paint. The kitchen had a beautiful yellow counter, once again with hexagonal tiles. After close observation, I realized that the kitchen cabinets had been “updated” sometime in the 1950s or ’60s by someone who attached plywood panels to the old original cabinets. I unscrewed the plywood, bought glass for the upper cabinet, and the original kitchen came back to life.
Once again, I was honoring the past through observation and labor.
In 1997, I took a tenure-track position at Rhode Island College in Providence. The pay and benefits were good, and I had made a profit on the Texas bungalow. I bought a 1750 colonial house on the water (a shipwrecked captain’s residence). From this house, I learned about horsehair plaster, chimneys, hand-forged nails, stone foundations, sump-pumps, the greatness of 300-year-old lumber and the efficiency of multiple-zone water heating systems. I learned that I disliked living on the water, and I never will again, no matter how good the view. I prefer a house on a hill with a dry basement! It is ironic that this, my least loved house, made me the greatest profit when I sold it in 2005, at the height of the market.
At this point I decided to leave my tenured position to take a visiting artist position at Smith College. While at Smith, I bought two large foreclosed two-family homes in Holyoke, Massachusetts. I had fallen in love with the town for its architectural beauty, diverse population and the nature surrounding it.
“I have been involved Holyoke civic and political life for years and it’s been my great pleasure to see the city becoming more mindful of its historical real estate patrimony.”
I will put the experiences of a lifetime at your service to help you successfully purchase or sell a property, whether it’s an investment or your home.
Holyoke is my home, and the Pioneer Valley and Hill Country are my playgrounds.
With my friends I share a passion for nature, food and buildings. When I’m not working, I’m probably hiking in a Massachusetts state park, fighting to save a historic building, visiting a historic landmark, foraging or cooking. No matter how busy, however, I’m always just one phone call away for my clients.
