‘I fulfilled my dream of buying a century-old apartment in Venice and restoring it to its former glory’

A hospital doctor from rural Kentucky with a lifelong passion for European history has purchased and painstakingly restored a century-old apartment in Venice, Italy – and now divides his time between landlocked Appalachia and one of the world’s most water-bound cities.

Two years ago, Dr. Alexander Gabrovskya doctor who also has a Ph.D. in medieval literature University of Cambridgedecided to become a homeowner. Instead of buying a single-family home or an apartment in the US, he set his sights on faraway Venice, a fairytale destination known for its canals, palazzos and timeless beauty.

“It was definitely a spontaneous decision, it just felt right. Carpe diem,” says Gabrovsky. Realtor.com®in which he reflects on his unexpected leap into international real estate ownership.

When Gabrovsky decided to invest in Venetian real estate, he looked for an apartment with the quintessential Venetian feature: a water door, known in Italian as a ‘porta d’acqua’, that provided direct access to a canal where he could moor a boat at his doorstep.

The other item on the American house hunter’s must-have list was that the property had to meet all strict legal requirements in order to be rented out while he was back in Kentucky.

“Remarkably, I found one apartment that met both criteria,” he says. ‘In fact it has two water doors, each with its own little balcony. Only a handful of properties in Venice have that distinction; even many of the grand palazzos on the Grand Canal have only one.”

The apartment

Located in the historic Castello district, Gabrovsky’s apartment complex is surrounded by three canals and opposite a medieval church.

“The spot is so distinct that I can locate it on historical maps and even early paintings,” says the proud owner. “At the MuseoCorrer [museum]I once saw a 17th century aerial view of Venice and was able to identify my own water door and bedroom window!”

The building has basic brickwork and carved wooden beams dating from the 14th century, with later additions from the 18th and 19th centuries. The property also features a medieval courtyard with a centuries-old water collection system.

The apartment itself has a bedroom, a sleeping area on the mezzanine floor, a living room, kitchen, two bathrooms and two balconies. Gabrovsky says that when he first toured the unit, he found some walls crumbling, but otherwise the living space was “in good condition.”

However, the water doors, one of Gabrovsky’s top priorities, were in need of complete restoration. Undeterred, he made an offer of 60,000 euros below the asking price of 440,000 euros, which was accepted.

The peculiarities of purchasing real estate abroad

To achieve his dream of owning a piece of Venice, Gabrovsky said he had to navigate the complexities of the Italian legal system – and Venice’s specific rules regarding ground-floor properties, boat parking permits and short-term rental rules.

To do that, the Kentucky doctor hired the company Italian Real Estate Lawyers (IREL) to help him not only with the purchase, but also with the day-to-day realities of homeownership, from setting up utilities to understanding property tax payments.

“As magical as Venice looks from the outside, buying property here can be surprisingly complicated,” says IREL manager Linda Balboni tells Realtor.com. “In Venice, every stone has a story – and every property comes with layers of laws, history and environmental challenges hiding behind the beauty.”

For starters, IREL’s team ensured that Gabrvosky’s chosen property did not fall under Italy’s strict heritage laws, known as the “Beller Arti” restrictions, which apply to buildings with historical or artistic significance.

With that hurdle cleared, the lawyers proceeded to reconcile Gabrovsky’s dream of owning a ground-floor apartment right on the water with Venice’s flooding problem, which makes such properties particularly vulnerable to the elements.

Balboni says her team hired a local surveyor who specializes in below-sea-level homes to conduct a thorough due diligence inspection, focusing on water-related risks such as the apartment’s height above the canals, the presence of water pumps, and historical flooding data for the area.

“Venice has its own rhythm and rules, and even the most charming home can suffer from hidden maintenance issues if the buyer does not check these matters thoroughly,” warns Balboni.

The next challenge was to obtain a mooring permit for Gabrovsky so that he could park his boat right in front of his door, which could be quite a task in Venice.

“While it is easy to arrange a parking space in most cities, parking for a boat – or posto barca – in Venice is a completely different adventure, and not an automatic right,” explains Balboni.

The buyer’s lawyers helped him apply within a limited time frame for one of the limited berths, complete with all necessary documentation proving the boat’s compliance and safety certificates, to ensure he could moor his vessel outside his building.

The restoration

Venice has fascinated Gabrovsky ever since he first visited the city with his family as a 5-year-old. Later, during his father’s academic sabbatical, he spent part of his childhood in a medieval village in France – an experience he credits with sparking his fascination with southern Europe.

As a Ph.D. student researching the life and work of a medieval poet Geoffrey ChaucerGabrovsky traveled through Italy on academic scholarships, studying in Bologna and Pisa, but it was always Venice that completely enchanted him.

“The idea of ​​owning and caring for a little piece of European history has never left me,” says Gabrovsky.

With a deep sense of awe and respect for history, the physician and scholar began the daunting task of restoring his newly purchased Venetian estate to its former glory.

“The most difficult part was restoring the character of the apartment without compromising the structure,” says Gabrovsky.

One evening at a Venetian wine bar he met a local woman whose parents turned out to be architects, and they became his collaborators on the restoration project.

“Together we worked to preserve the soul of the apartment, bringing back details such as the water doors and the hand-forged ironwork,” says Gabrovsky, adding that he even hired a Venetian blacksmith to recreate the original details of the water doors and “bring back their historic charm.”

The homeowner says all the modern amenities added to the apartment – ​​from fiber optic internet cables to modern kitchen appliances – have been largely hidden from view, hidden behind traditional cabinetry to maintain an ‘authentic Venetian’ appearance.

But the renovation process was not without challenges and specificities of Venice, Gabrovsky admits.

“Everything from old cabinets to pieces of plaster must be loaded onto a boat and transported to the mainland for disposal,” he reveals. “Every new piece of furniture must make the same journey in reverse. That logistical ballet adds layers of complexity to even the simplest task.”

However, Gabrovsky says he also encountered some pleasant surprises along the way.

“One day we decided to open a small section of the ceiling to see what was behind it, and we discovered beautiful hand-chiseled wooden beams,” he says. “They added both height and history to the space, probably brought from the forests of Croatia centuries ago.”

Living ‘La Dolce Vita’

Now that the restoration is complete, Gabrovsky can now fully enjoy his globe-trotting lifestyle. He says he typically spends three to four weeks a year in Venice, followed by weeklong trips to London or Paris, before returning to Pikeville, Kentucky, where he stays in a hotel while working 12 hours a day at a local hospital.

“I love the contrast: treating complex medical cases among miners in the rugged mountains of Appalachia, then reading a Manzoni novel next to the tranquil canals of Venice,” says Gabrovsky.

When Gabrovsky isn’t in Venice, he rents out his property on Airbnb to tourists, with his neighbors-turned-friends managing all the bookings and check-ins.

Gabrovksy says what he likes most about living in Venice is the wide variety of experiences he gets to have.

“Every day I can sail my boat through the quiet back canals and then cross the lagoon to explore hidden islands: a vineyard, a remote monastery or a small beach on the Adriatic Sea where I can swim or fish,” he says.

He adds: “Venice constantly surprises me; every trip feels like a little adventure through time.”

Looking to the future, Gabrovsky says that as the son of a European-born father, he could potentially get a European Union passport and secure a path to residency, but for now he’s happy to work in the U.S. while investing in Italy.

“I’m currently single and don’t have any kids, so I’m keeping an open mind,” he says. “Life often surprises us.”

When asked what advice he would give to other Americans considering buying a home in Italy, Gabrovsky says he is not discouraged by the legal complexities.

“If you are passionate about Italian culture, go for it,” he urges. “Passion will get you through bureaucracy.”

Meanwhile, Balboni, together with Italian real estate lawyers, offers a dose of reality and a reminder to manage expectations.

“Buying property in Venice is different from buying anywhere else in Italy,” she says. “It’s part art, part technique and part patience.”