[in 1998]

The Proposition

As noted on the page describing the history of the villa, on my father’s death in 1996, the villa was given in equal shares to his five children and his second wife, Barbara. On Barbara’s death her share passed to her three children who transferred it to me in 2017. So I own a third and each of my four siblings owns a sixth.

Since 2000, I’ve attempted to persuade my siblings that we should sell the villa but disagreements about how the villa was to be used in the meantime caused a total estrangement which continues today. They do not respond to my letters and none has had anything to do with the villa since 2003 when my brother visited in my absence in an unsuccessful attempt to lock me out. While refusing to join me in selling, they have nonetheless continued to pay the very modest real estate taxes which are assessed. I have borne the expense of the necessary maintenance during the past 20 years without any contributions from them. I have no reason to think any of them has any desire to visit the villa or make any use of it. The most reasonable guess it that they intend to continue to ignore the villa until my death; what they imagine they can do at that point is quite unclear.

One option for me is to do nothing beyond devising my share of the villa to a trustee for the eventual charitable beneficiary. But I feel an obligation to my father who was very fond of the villa and invested heavily in its restoration during his final years. He knew that I was the only one of his children with any interest in using it and yet felt that he should provide equally for each child. (A competent lawyer could have ensured both my stewardship and equal financial benefit.) So I am trying to find successors who would also value the villa, respect its history, and make good use of it.

Because I can convey only one-third of the whole at the moment, a suitable buyer would need to intend to own the villa over an extended term (perhaps 25 years) so that when each of my siblings dies, that sibling’s share can be bought in. Since there would be no other buyer than my successor for that share, its value will be deeply discounted. My estimate is that in the end, my successor will have paid much less than half of the current fair market value for all of the shares.

Further, the villa is taken care of by a resident custodian who is now in his mid-60s. My successor will need to interact successfully with Antonio and his wife Maria Grazia who speak only Italian. Not to put too fine a point on it, they are very nice but very parochial in attitude. My successor will need to understand as well as possible the point of view of an Italian contadino and the surrounding local customs (which include taking advantage of the padrone).

In sum, a suitable successor to me should be an Italophile with a reasonable command of Italian, should intend to make use of the villa indefinitely, and should expect to be able to sell a full interest in it only in the distant future. Of course, this limits the number of prospective successors and the offering price must necessarily reflect that fact.