6 ms·

Need a Home for 80k Puzzles? Try an Italian Castle

39 points by Thevet 3y ago

chungus 3y ago
https://archive.is/YGg6Q https://archive.is/YGg6Q and the website of the documentary: https://www.notablefeatures.com/the-puzzle-palace https://www.notablefeatures.com/the-puzzle-palace
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
fragmede 3y ago
Having lived in the Bay Area for too long, castles seem positively affordable! https://www.cabinetlenail.com/en/annonces/ref-na4-1277/15th-century-castle-with-neo-gothic-decoration-for-sale-in-chateauroux/ https://www.cabinetlenail.com/en/annonces/ref-na4-1277/15th-... Of course, it's the upkeep that will kill ya.
- oh_sigh 3y ago
  Depending where, but you'll also be expected to host people from the nearby towns for events, host town parties, weddings, etc, all at no cost or far below cost. Or, you can not do that and be a social pariah and have the local government thumb their nose at you when you need something like permits.
- sherlock_h 3y ago
  Would love to see the upkeep numbers. Some of these are surprisingly affordable. €1m for a well-kept 15 room castle isn’t bad.
- m463 3y ago
  and missile silos!
bitslayer 3y ago
"Then last year, on a whim, the Millers bought a 15th-century, 52-room castle" Translation: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/translation-of-a-new-york-times-real-estate-article-for-those-living-without-a-trust-fund https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/translation-of-a-new-yor...
- throwup238 3y ago
  I’d wager that 52 room castle is cheaper than the average 4 bedroom stick framed house here in Southern California. They’re prohibitively expensive to maintain so no one really wants them. European governments have a maze of financial incentives to keep them from falling into complete disrepair.
  - fnorder 3y ago
    Imagine the heating bill.
    - shagie 3y ago
      HDD 16 (Degree (°C) days) for Tuscany in 2020 was 1310 (from https://www.iea.org/articles/italy-climate-resilience-policy-indicator https://www.iea.org/articles/italy-climate-resilience-policy... ) That's a 60° F HDD. Unfortunately, the HDD for the US tend to be based on 65° F. San Francisco has a mean of close enough to 3000 over 1948 - 2013 (it's probably lower now). As these are temperature degrees, to convert from HDD 16 to HDD 65 (and ignoring that its 60 vs 65), that's 1310 * 9/5 that's 2358. Ballpark, it needs less heating than San Francisco... though there's the "it's a castle and not well insulated" and "that's a large volume". However, it's not as big of an undertaking as one would imagine (to heat a castle) in a mediterranean climate. I'd compare it to heating a church in San Francisco. Again, ballpark estimates put this in $1.00 - $1.50 per square foot.
      - fnorder 3y ago
        Yeah but consider you're likely heating the entire building with wood fires.
        shagie 3y ago
        Today, you'd likely do it with an under rug heater. https://cozywinters.com/shop/rug-heat.html https://cozywinters.com/shop/rug-heat.html for example. Though, the "heating a room with a fireplace" wasn't the way it was done then. https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/restoring-the-old-way-of-warming-heating-people-not-places/ https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/restoring-the-old-... Also https://youtu.be/inzamhtroO0 https://youtu.be/inzamhtroO0 > Kettle Moraine Heating & Air Conditioning installed solar panels designed to work with the brand-new Lennox systems and appliances used throughout the house. Now the owner—who bought the 10,000-square-foot historic home and updated the property with a 5,000-square-foot addition with help from Kettle Moraine—is saving a whopping $3,000 in electricity costs per year thanks to solar energy. And they’re pleased with the whole HVAC overhaul and new installation. https://www.buildingmycastle.com/an-energy-efficient-castle/ https://www.buildingmycastle.com/an-energy-efficient-castle/ Consider the equivalent question of "how do you heat Filoli Mansion?" When it was built, it was fireplaces and a diesel boiler.
robinhouston 3y ago
George Miller's website Puzzle Palace is a fun way to get lost for a few hours, if you like puzzles. http://www.puzzlepalace.com/ http://www.puzzlepalace.com/
ajaimk 3y ago
How much was the castle? That’s the key bit of missing information in this whole article
- _dark_matter_ 3y ago
  The asking price was about 1 million US dollars.
- pmontra 3y ago
  It seems that it was on sale for 990,000 Euro https://www.jamesedition.com/real_estate/perugia-italy/a-real-15th-century-castle-right-in-the-heart-of-a-very-active-little-hilltop-village-10779718 https://www.jamesedition.com/real_estate/perugia-italy/a-rea...
wglb 3y ago
Being able to nerd-snipe Donald Knuth is a particular life achievement
robinhouston 3y ago
The original announcement from Roxanne Miller’s blog is charming too, and has a lot of nice pictures of the place: https://ipp30.blogspot.com/2022/05/breaking-puzzle-news.html https://ipp30.blogspot.com/2022/05/breaking-puzzle-news.html

39 points by Thevet 3y ago

https://archive.is/YGg6Q https://archive.is/YGg6Q and the website of the documentary: https://www.notablefeatures.com/the-puzzle-palace https://www.notablefeatures.com/the-puzzle-palace

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

fragmede 3y ago

Having lived in the Bay Area for too long, castles seem positively affordable! https://www.cabinetlenail.com/en/annonces/ref-na4-1277/15th-century-castle-with-neo-gothic-decoration-for-sale-in-chateauroux/ https://www.cabinetlenail.com/en/annonces/ref-na4-1277/15th-... Of course, it's the upkeep that will kill ya.

oh_sigh 3y ago
Depending where, but you'll also be expected to host people from the nearby towns for events, host town parties, weddings, etc, all at no cost or far below cost. Or, you can not do that and be a social pariah and have the local government thumb their nose at you when you need something like permits.
sherlock_h 3y ago
Would love to see the upkeep numbers. Some of these are surprisingly affordable. €1m for a well-kept 15 room castle isn’t bad.
m463 3y ago
and missile silos!

bitslayer 3y ago

"Then last year, on a whim, the Millers bought a 15th-century, 52-room castle" Translation: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/translation-of-a-new-york-times-real-estate-article-for-those-living-without-a-trust-fund https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/translation-of-a-new-yor...

throwup238 3y ago
I’d wager that 52 room castle is cheaper than the average 4 bedroom stick framed house here in Southern California. They’re prohibitively expensive to maintain so no one really wants them. European governments have a maze of financial incentives to keep them from falling into complete disrepair.
- fnorder 3y ago
  Imagine the heating bill.
  - shagie 3y ago
    HDD 16 (Degree (°C) days) for Tuscany in 2020 was 1310 (from https://www.iea.org/articles/italy-climate-resilience-policy-indicator https://www.iea.org/articles/italy-climate-resilience-policy... ) That's a 60° F HDD. Unfortunately, the HDD for the US tend to be based on 65° F. San Francisco has a mean of close enough to 3000 over 1948 - 2013 (it's probably lower now). As these are temperature degrees, to convert from HDD 16 to HDD 65 (and ignoring that its 60 vs 65), that's 1310 * 9/5 that's 2358. Ballpark, it needs less heating than San Francisco... though there's the "it's a castle and not well insulated" and "that's a large volume". However, it's not as big of an undertaking as one would imagine (to heat a castle) in a mediterranean climate. I'd compare it to heating a church in San Francisco. Again, ballpark estimates put this in $1.00 - $1.50 per square foot.
    - fnorder 3y ago
      Yeah but consider you're likely heating the entire building with wood fires.
      - shagie 3y ago
        Today, you'd likely do it with an under rug heater. https://cozywinters.com/shop/rug-heat.html https://cozywinters.com/shop/rug-heat.html for example. Though, the "heating a room with a fireplace" wasn't the way it was done then. https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/restoring-the-old-way-of-warming-heating-people-not-places/ https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/restoring-the-old-... Also https://youtu.be/inzamhtroO0 https://youtu.be/inzamhtroO0 > Kettle Moraine Heating & Air Conditioning installed solar panels designed to work with the brand-new Lennox systems and appliances used throughout the house. Now the owner—who bought the 10,000-square-foot historic home and updated the property with a 5,000-square-foot addition with help from Kettle Moraine—is saving a whopping $3,000 in electricity costs per year thanks to solar energy. And they’re pleased with the whole HVAC overhaul and new installation. https://www.buildingmycastle.com/an-energy-efficient-castle/ https://www.buildingmycastle.com/an-energy-efficient-castle/ Consider the equivalent question of "how do you heat Filoli Mansion?" When it was built, it was fireplaces and a diesel boiler.

robinhouston 3y ago

George Miller's website Puzzle Palace is a fun way to get lost for a few hours, if you like puzzles. http://www.puzzlepalace.com/ http://www.puzzlepalace.com/

ajaimk 3y ago

How much was the castle? That’s the key bit of missing information in this whole article

_dark_matter_ 3y ago
The asking price was about 1 million US dollars.
pmontra 3y ago
It seems that it was on sale for 990,000 Euro https://www.jamesedition.com/real_estate/perugia-italy/a-real-15th-century-castle-right-in-the-heart-of-a-very-active-little-hilltop-village-10779718 https://www.jamesedition.com/real_estate/perugia-italy/a-rea...

wglb 3y ago

Being able to nerd-snipe Donald Knuth is a particular life achievement

robinhouston 3y ago

The original announcement from Roxanne Miller’s blog is charming too, and has a lot of nice pictures of the place: https://ipp30.blogspot.com/2022/05/breaking-puzzle-news.html https://ipp30.blogspot.com/2022/05/breaking-puzzle-news.html