swimming pool – Trullo Genista

August 16, 2023August 17, 2023

Welcome to Our First Guests

At last, at the beginning of July, we were able to welcome our first guests. We returned home from Puglia at the end of June having prepared the trullo as best we could for the impending visitors. There were two difficult aspects to this. Over the course of four years, we’ve seen the gradual transformation of the house from slightly neglected second home to, hopefully, stunning holiday location – all designed in our own image. It’s tough to suspend your own preferences and try and put your thinking into the heads of families and friends on holiday. But we did. No doubt, as well as getting plenty right, we probably got some things wrong so we’ll rely on feedback from departing guests to get it better in the future.

The other really tricky part of the process was, after all the trials and tribulations of the last four years, we had to sit back and realise we were leaving the spoils to other people having never properly experienced the finished article ourselves. And it looked fantastic when we handed over. But that’s a short term issue. We will of course be back at some point in the future.

That was June. Fast forward and we’re in the middle of August and a number of sets of guests have now arrived and left. Generally the feedback has been good and we thank them for that. We have also learnt a number of lessons about what people do and don’t need that perhaps we had neglected to think of. But that’s good because we will never know if people don’t feed back to us. If you are one of our guests and you are reading this, do leave a comment in the guest book on this site.

Time passes quickly and it’s incredible to think as September approaches that we are heading towards the end of our first season and looking forward to the next. We already have bookings for 2024 which is (to us at any rate) remarkable – and very encouraging. If the idea of a newly converted trullo in Puglia’s ‘Golden Triangle’ appeals, the contact details are all on this website. For us it remains only to say it’s been a long time coming but well worth it when you get there.

Ciao for now!

August 16, 2022

Pouring Cement

OK, we’re not exactly on the completion timeline that we intended but after the last couple of years we’ll take any progress we can get. We were hoping that this late Summer/Autumn we’d have been welcoming our first guests through the door at Trullo Genista but sadly it looks like we’ve missed the boat again.

But on the positive side, that gives us the entire winter to get the house ready to open the doors to the first holidaymakers next Spring – likely early May but no doubt if people wish to book for April, or even Easter, we could likely accommodate.

What then is happening here? Last time we visited the house in May, there was a big hole in the ground (see previous posts). Since then the hole has been lined with brickwork in readiness for cement to be poured. Why the time lag between the two processes took so long we have no idea. Now it’s done, we have to wait a month (maybe less as the weather is very warm) before back-filling can take place and then the liner can be fitted.

In order that the pool can be used for as many months of the year as possible, or at least well into October, it is also going to be solar heated. The solar panels therefore have to be installed as part of the project alongside everything else. Maybe then by end of September we could be all finished. This project has taught us never to take anything for granted so we will just keep the positivity levels up and carry on.

May 10, 2022November 25, 2022

Permission at Last. Time to get Going

I know! A scene we thought we may never see. This is an actual excavator digging the hole for our actual swimming pool.

In a bid to accelerate construction work in Italy post-lockdown the government passed legislation that basically said if you have had a construction permit request outstanding for more than 18 months, you can give 60 days notice that you are going to begin the work unless you hear from the comuné with any objections. We did all that but nothing seemed to happen. When the 60 days were up our geometra went to sign the letter that said we were due to start and sure enough it all went through.

Hole for pool filter and pump — The pump and filter space for the pool. Solar panels will sit above this area so the pool can be used right up to and including October

On the 4th May, as pictures bear witness here, digging began which means we hope to start having paying visitors in Genista in July/August. And being solar heated visitors can come right through October and enjoy a heated pool.

The Imhoff septic tank — A new septic tank. Least said the better but actually far more environmentally friendly.

On a slightly les savoury note, law dictates that a new environmentally friendly septic tank has to be installed as a result of the swimming pool work. Consequently, as you can see from the picture here, another big hole has been dug at a safe distance from the pool and a new tank installed. We haven’t inspected the work yet but we are desperately hoping that we don’t have to move any of the olive trees to accommodate this new installation. There’s a long way to go but having waited two and a half years for this when it should have been ready to start in October 2019, we were seriously bemused as to what was going on at the Comune. Was there something they weren’t telling us? Is there a problem that hadn’t been identified when the previous owner got his permit? All this stuff goes through your head and you begin to wonder if you’ll ever come out the other side. We will probably never know but right now it is onwards and upwards.

September 30, 2019October 7, 2021

Puglian Earth

On arriving at the trullo for an extended stay on 26th September, I was greeted by a deep red hole in the ground next to the house. Excavation on the new extension had finally begun but there was still something missing.

We had agreed that for logistical reasons, and to save time, we would excavate the swimming pool at the same time. However, on close inspection, this was going to be either the shallowest pool of all time or clearly that had not happened. There must surely be a good explanation.

Definitely no sign of a swimming pool there!

Our swimming pool building project is being handled by Puglia Pools in Locorotondo. I called them to discuss this matter only to be told that we were all ready to begin excavation when our geometra discovered that our permit from Martina Franca Commune was in fact invalid.

Now, those of you familiar with buying property in Italy will be fully aware of this. For those who aren’t, a brief summary of how it works. When you make an offer on a property, you do it in writing. Alongside that offer are all the conditions of sale that you wish to see met before you agree to complete. One of those conditions in our case was that a valid permit to build a swimming pool was approved on the site. What we recently found out was that, for reasons we can’t discuss here right now, the permit was deemed invalid. We may have to take this issue further but hopefully not as a new permit is likely to be issued in January.

This puts us three months behind schedule for pool building. However, this should still give us plenty of time to complete the job in time for the summer. In the meantime work continues on the other building work in earnest. I’m looking forward to seeing it progress. More to follow.