Masseria Antica Puglia

Considering

a historic estate, Masseria in Puglia or Sicily, Italy for sale ( Masseria storica vendesi / vendita ) -

I would like to show an alternative below.
A Gentleman Farmer's lifestyle and an agriculture investment combined

Dear visitor,

I am creating this page for two reasons
a. I offer properties in Uruguay, that includes the odd historic estate, as realtor, and
b. I look for likeminded partners for our own Estancia in Uruguay

I have inserted the terms “masseria storica Puglia Sicily” etc in both title and text because I thought, if that interests you and searched for those terms, it might be interesting for you what I write here, too.

I bought a historic estancia in Uruguay in 2004. In a way that is the southern South American version of a Masseria (or of a historic cortijo in Andalusia). Indeed we ourself started out in Puglia, Italy in the mid 90’s searching for historic masserias for sale. The idea to own a romantic mediterranian stately estate, with wrought iron, patios, old wells etc was with us for many years.
We looked at quite a few properties. In the end we did not buy, neither in Italy, nor in Spain. A combination of stately historic buildings and stately acreage was not available for below US$2Mio even in the mid 1990’s. (And this is what you still seem to pay in 2009 for a masseria in need of very substantial renovation and with 100 hectare of land, not too fertile.) On top we had our doubts about how european agriculture might fare once EU subsidies would be less generous and even then we had doubts about how the climate change would effect southern Europe (and again its agriculture).

We bought in Uruguay since to us it was the best combination of european mediterranian culture (and architecture) and a more benign climate, wetter, greener, and a much better price/value of historic estates for sale.
Some things have changed since we bought in 2004, most notably the prices for land, which as of August 2009 have roughly tripled (in US$ terms, somewhat less in EUR terms). Still I couldn’t name a country with comparable characteristics and where foreigners can own farmland that is substantially cheaper. Also historic estates have become scarce.
Other aspects have not changed much, agriculture and ranching are still much more viable in Uruguay then in southern Europe. The climate is pleasant, so are the people.

There is also a downside, flights between Uruguay and Europe are long and expensive, and Uruguay is not as culturally rich as the old world. The espresso tastes the same though, so does the Parmesan cheese.
In case you wonder, Argentina (the heartland, the Pampa humeda) and Uruguay are quite similar in many aspects, even prices are comparable nowadays.

our listings:
Uruguay Farmland Real Estate

Our own
Estancia San Eugenio

dto comparison Cortijo Andalucia
Estancias Haciendas Fazendas
Photos Uruguay

Peer Voss
Hamburg tel +49-40-457121
Uruguay mobile +598-99-590922
pvoss@pvoss.de

A Masseria in Italy....

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....or an Estancia in Uruguay

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Estancias for sale. See link "Uruguay farmland real estate" on the left
left : 68) very old (1790s), rustic estate, 60ha, US$220,000
right : 128) very stately estancia (1920s), US$2,5Mio

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looks like a masseria in the Murgia / Puglia, but is indeed an estancia in Florida/Uruguay, Sarandí del Yi

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Uruguay, land of the Tannat