Medieval Tuscan Remodel

My wife and I inherited a house in the mountains in northern Tuscany that has not been updated in a generation. We would like to remodel it. Our goal is to maintain the medieval feel but bring it up to date with some modern design touches and make it liveable all year round. We are going for something that is simple, comfortable and honors the heritage of the property. We live in London and would ideally be able to meet with the freelancer in person, though this is not a must. We have never done a project like this so don't know what we don't know. At this point we've worked on some basic plans with a local Italian 'geometra' who is responsible for getting planning permission from the local commune.