Italian Homes vs American Homes

Searching for a rental home in Italy brought SOO many surprises that I wasn’t expecting. I’ve lived in Germany – in 3 different apartments – so I kind of thought I could expect some similar things in Italian homes. Especially northern Italian homes.

HAHA. Silly me.

Italian homes vary widely. There are typical older Italian home with a taverna in the basement and many large bedrooms but few bathrooms. Then there are modern homes with radiant heating and gorgeous modern bathrooms (but often smaller bedrooms).

Compared to Germany, there are many more freestanding homes, and many have large fenced yards.

Hello! 👋 If you don’t know my story, hey there, I’m Brea. I grew up in Alaska and have spent my adult life between Alaska and Europe. My husband and I lived in Germany for 6 years and now have been living in Italy with our 2 kids since fall 2025.

And then there are some very unsightly concrete buildings referred to as ‘brutalist’, a style that was popular from the 60’s-80’s and quickly faded (though many stand today).

Living in the Vicenza region in Northern Italy you’ll see this clash of styles and all sorts of different places for rent.

Whether you choose to live in a city, a small town, or a rural area will heavily dictate what type of place you live in. This article will outline the main differences you’ll find between homes in the US and homes in Italy.

Tall Ceilings

Pretty self explanatory, but the ceilings -especially in old homes- are unusually tall. Perhaps it’s because my frame of reference is Germany, but these old Italian homes have fantastically tall ceiling heights.

This isn’t just homes either. Many apartments on middle floors have 14+ foot ceiling heights.

Most new builds do not have the same 14 foot tall ceilings, so if you want those glorious heights, be sure to look at older homes.

No Air Filtration

This has been my experience in most European buildings, but built in filtration systems simply don’t exist. This is even the case in new builds as well. They may have solar panels and air conditioning that’s ducted (although they’re typically wall units), but air filtration systems are not a thing.

I honestly do not understand why this is the case for new homes. Obviously it would be expensive or simply impossible to add ductwork to older homes, but I don’t get why the newer homes aren’t built to filter the air. Especially since the Northern Po Valley of Italy has some of the worst air quality in Europe, and some filtration and/or dehumidifiers would help greatly with both air quality and humidity.

Mold is one of the most persistent and difficult issues in homes in this area, so maintaining low humidity through a filtration system would help – and possibly save – many homes.

Radiant In-Floor Heating

I LOVE this about Italian homes. Our apartment has radiant heating in the main area, then wall radiators in the bedrooms. There’s nothing like waking up and walking on a warm floor.

These aren’t in every single home but they’re really common.

Pocket Doors

This one surprised me. In many (not all) homes we viewed, there were quite a few pocket doors. Our apartment is exclusively pocket doors. Word of warning; if you appreciate a quiet home, pocket doors are NOT your friend. Ours do nearly nothing for sound which isn’t the best with small children.

Homes Aren’t Built for Heat

Vicenza is located in Northern Italy, and you can see the Alps from the city. So it can get quite cold in the winter months.

Because of this, I’d assume that homes would be built with some sort of insulation or method of keeping in the heat. Some new builds are built with this in mind, but many are just concrete blocks with little to keep the heat in.

When you add in astronomical heating costs, it’s a bit strange to me that new homes still aren’t built to keep the heat in in the winter, and out in the summer. This technology does exist, although I guess building a home to stay cool in summer is more important (to me, at least) than keeping it warm in the winter.

Large Bedrooms

Bedrooms in most older Italian homes are oversized. You could easily fit an American king sized bed and large nightstands, and still have room for a dresser and other furniture. This is true more so in older homes and not new builds.

Low Electricity in Homes (kW)

The way electricity works in Italy is much different than the US. Most homes come with 3-3.3 kW of power. What this means is that your power is essentially limited in the home so you can’t run multiple things at once. For example, if you’re on the lower end, you likely cannot run a dishwasher and washing machine at the same time.

Our apartment is newer and at the highest rating, 6kW, so we have no problem running multiple appliances at once. We’re fairly low tech but I have run our dishwasher and washing machine at the same time with no issues. To get higher kilowatts, you can pay the utility company a one-time fee, just check this is a possibility on your potential home first.

No Shower Head in Primary Bathroom

Unless you get a new home, most homes that have a bathroom ensuite in the primary will have a handheld sprayer and a bathtub. So to shower, you have to hold the sprayer the entire time. I asked our realtor and they said this is normal for them, but I just don’t get why you wouldn’t install an overhead shower. Even some newer homes built in the early 2000’s have these types of showers.

The other issue is that there is no shower curtain so water gets EVERYWHERE. For a place that has mold issues I just don’t understand this.

Homes Next to Commercial Buildings

While this is typically a ‘pro’ for living in Europe – meaning, it’s nice to have places where residential and commercial housing coexist (homes near a bakery or cafe) – many here in Italy are next to manufacturing plants, ugly commercial buildings, or big industrial complexes. This is a huge difference from our experience in Germany where it was rare to have a home next to a large industrial complex. This feeds into an entirely different discussion on urban planning in Italy vs other countries that I won’t dive into here.

So when you’re looking online at homes, just know it could be next to a busy gas station, a big bank, a massive tech company (we saw a house next to a 10 story circular tech corporation….one house), a manufacturing plant, etc.

For the manufacturing companies, keep in mind the environmental toxins they may emit. It’s the complete opposite of what you think of with Italy, but if you consider that so many things are made right here in Italy, well they have to be built somewhere.

It’s better to see a place in person before making any decisions.

Below, notice the apartments in the top righthand corner of the photo.

No ‘Suburbs’, Even in Small Towns

Okay, before you scream at me that this isn’t America. I know! And it’s not Germany – but in Germany, Austria, and even further north in Italy you can find clusters of homes resembling a neighborhood and away from main roads.

So many homes I see here are along bigger roads. There isn’t a turn to a quieter road that has the so-called neighborhood. They just line up the main road with homes.

There are absolutely neighborhood type areas, however, I haven’t found any sort of planned neighborhoods here like you’d find in the states. Much of it feels like houses were added and eventually it felt more like a neighborhood.

No Carpet

Homes don’t have carpeting. I’ve read it’s due to the humidity…or cleanliness…or maybe it’s just cultural. I think it’s great but it’s something to get used to.

No Garbage Disposal

This is pretty universal for all of Europe, but garbage disposals simply don’t exist here.

Split a/c Units are Common

Many, if not most, homes have at least one split a/c unit. Our apartment has 5 units – one for each bedroom and one for the main living area.

Windows Operate Differently

Windows operate very differently in Italy than the states. Here windows open up or out. They never slide or crank.

We have some fancy windows that open at the center but this is fairly unusual.

Towel Warmer

Most of the homes we looked at had towel warmers in the bathrooms. And not just one bathroom but all of the bathrooms had them. As an American this feels like such a luxury.

Bidet

You can’t have an article about Italian homes without mentioning the famous bidet. Use it to clean your front and back parts.

Fun fact about bidets – they are required in a full bathroom in Italy, otherwise it is not considered a bathroom.

Rolladens are a Toss Up

If you’re familiar with rolladens in Europe this may be a surprise (because it was for me!). Many homes do not have rolladens. If they do, they’re not always integrated into the wall like I’ve seen in other countries. Instead, they are inside wall units that stick out above the windows inside. It’s a bit of an eye sore but not a huge issue.

Instead of rolladens, many homes have wooden shutters. I much prefer rolladens and don’t love to open my window then open and close shutters regularly. Perhaps this is lazy of me, but I love being able to easily press a button to open or close my shutters.

Multiple Outlet Sizes

Italy has three (YES THREE) different types of outlet sizes which makes shopping for appliances or anything you need to plug in a huge pain. The larger ones are typically for appliances that require more electricity, but those are not as common as the other outlet types.

In our home, for example, there is only one of these larger outlets in each room. So if I want to run the vacuum I only have one outlet option. In our large open living space this isn’t enough so I had to get an extension cord.

Variety in Homes

There are many homes of similar eras that have the same flooring, or tile, or doors. But overall, it seems there’s greater variety in homes here than there was in Germany.

Sound Proofing (or not?)

The sound proofing in homes seems to vary greatly. Our apartment is fairly soundproofed, but we’re on the top floor so we don’t have neighbors above us. But there are corners in our apartment where we can hear the neighbors and within our apartment you can hear people fairly well even from far away.

We’ve been to a few friend’s homes (houses, not apartments) where the kids are playing upstairs and we can’t hear them running around and making noise.

Overall the concrete construction does help tremendously with noise, just know that not all homes are created equal. Windows alo make a huge difference in sound. The older single pane houses will be much noisier than the newer double/triple pane windows in homes.

Colorful Bathrooms

There is a trend here to commit to one color for the ENTIRE bathroom, sometimes even the ceiling. Lime green? Better make sure the tile runs along the floor and up the wall, the counter is lime green, and the cabinets (if there are any) are also lime green. COMMIT.

Ours is this pebble look. It runs from the floor up the walls and is all the same tile. The general reaction I get when people see it is ‘Woah!’.

Storage DOES Exist Here

While Instagram will have you believing that the whole of Europe hates built-in storage, that happily hasn’t been the case for us here. And if a home doesn’t have built-in storage, there’s often large wardrobes in bedrooms that come with the place.

Now this isn’t the case for every home. In fact, some new homes don’t have much storage at all which is surprising to me.

For example, our apartment has generous hallway closets, a massive closet system in the primary bedroom, drawers under the sink in the bathrooms, shelving above the sink in our laundry, and more closet storage than we need upstairs.

Fences and Gates Surrounding Every Home

Most single family homes are completely fenced in. With animals and small children I love the idea of having a completely fenced in yard. But it’s also odd having everything feel almost boarded up and hidden away.

Small or Massive Garages

Many homes do have single or double garages. But most have narrow garages that only hold the car and not much else. Sometimes they can be deeper so you have storage in the back, but you can also get a garage that barely fits your car (let along you trying to get in/out).

Then some homes (even older ones) have massive garages. The doors may not be particularly big, but there can be a ton of space inside. This was such a surprise for me coming from Germany where large garages don’t really exist.

Older Homes Have Tavernas

I mentioned this at the beginning but I think this is such a cool feature of traditional Italian homes. MANY of these homes have these large basements with long wooden tables, a small kitchen, sometimes a wood burning stove, a bathroom, and sometimes a bedroom too!

In many cases it’s on the same level as the garage for easy access or is set below it. I’ve seen some beautiful ones with huge wooden tables and would have LOVED to have a space like this (sadly we didn’t have a good option when we were looking).