Breathing life back into a disused and neglected Baron’s Estate for use as our second top-notch vacation destination is turning out to be really satisfying for more than just our Amazing Abruzzo crew.
People in our town are feeling it too.
It’s a rare renewal project in an area of Italy that doesn’t see too many of them, and that gives people pride.
It’s a 160ish-year-old walled Estate complete with outbuildings, a private forest, former stables, and a big pool. It’s just down the street from our original Villa location in the town of Torre de’Passeri, about 90 minutes east of Rome in Italy’s Abruzzo region.
It wasn’t in terrible shape when we took it over in December, but nobody’s lived there full-time in 14 years, and it’s been five years since the building had a short-lived stint as a bed and breakfast.
To bring it up to speed it needed four-ensuite bathrooms, a new kitchen, some new walls, and a lot of TLC.
Last Thursday, I walked in the gate and found the parking area stuffed with cars and trucks.
In the two-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage, our handyman Franco was patching and painting walls. He smiled as he showed how the former coachman’s house is turning into a cozy rustic bungalow that guests will love retiring to after a day of all-inclusive pampering.
On the upper floor bedroom wing of the two-storey main building, the construction crew is putting in four ensuite bathrooms and creating proper corridors to separate the rooms, were keen to show off their progress. The walls are up, the electrical is in, the plumbing predispositions are in, and the tiles are laid. As they showed off their workmanship and progress, you could feel how much pride they are taking in their work.
On the other upper wing, our operations manager Eva, chef Nunzia, and cleaner Mirella were busy setting up the new dining room, kitchen, sitting room, office and huge terrace. These ladies were laughing and singing. Part of their fun is scouring through all the old furniture, art, knick-knacks, and decorations in the main building and repurposing them.
The former marble top entrance side table is now our bar. The wooden hutches that were in the kitchen are now in the dining room waiting to be filled with dishes. In the kitchen, gleaming new stainless-steel appliances stand ready to go. The bookshelves in the dining room are being reinforced so they can hold our private-stock wine selections. A sweet old desk that was found buried in dust in a disused room was cleaned up and is now the center piece of our office.
Over the last three weeks, the vision of these ladies for this area has become clear. I can see the flow of food and wine and people already. The ladies beam as they show their progress.
Outside our groundskeeper Angelo slaves away day after day turning an overgrown forest into a Narnia-like oasis. It’s tough work, but he’s up to it. In fact, he tells me he loves doing it.
They are creating something beautiful, and they know it. They can’t wait for our first guests to arrive in April to show off what they’ve done. That’s clear, but it’s more than that. It’s about pride in our town too.
You see, Torre de’Passeri is like a lot of towns in Abruzzo. It used to be a vibrant and prosperous place with a population of more than 10,000. But like most of southern Italy, it’s been on the wrong side of several big political and economic upheavals over the past 150 or so years. It backed the wrong King then vainly opposed the fascist regime at great human and economic cost. Making things worse, a big part of the Italian campaign in World War Two happened right here. Then southern Italy lost out on much of the post war reconstruction boom.
As a result, people left – mostly for the big Italian cities, North America or northern Europe. This included the Baron’s descendants, who still own the Estate. They left for Rome. (We are leasing to own the property.)
With this exodus, the town’s population dwindled to about 3000 where it sits today.
Don’t get me wrong, I love this place. It’s a great town with great people and a cool history. But there are abandoned buildings and not much renewal takes place. Good jobs are hard to come by.
These are the symptoms that cause people in places like Torre de’Passeri to have a certain negativity and apathy.
This project is an antidote to that feeling.
When I was talking to Angelo, he said everywhere he goes in town (which is mostly bars) people ask him how things are going at the Estate. They ask him if it’s as nice as people say. (Remember, it’s a walled Estate.) He said people are happy that finally somebody is doing something with one of the most fabled properties in town.
The mayor has checked in on the works. I saw the local town cop looking through the gate the other day. A guy at the bar enthusiastically told me he used to jump the wall and steal figs from the large garden area. People are asking about a grand opening party. We’ve been contacted by several people we don’t know asking about work.
The ladies at the grocery store want to come look at the place, and a healthy number of town folk have just showed up unannounced to see what’s going on.
It hit me this week.
The Amazing Abruzzo crew are happy because they are getting to do something that is kind of rare in our town. They are working on a renewal project. They are part of something hopeful, something positive.
The people from town feel it too.
Somebody believes in their town enough to invest. But not in a factory or industry, in its beauty. That doesn’t happen very often here, and it gives them pride.
Our crew and the people from town want the Estate to be as beautiful as possible. They want our guests to see the good, positive and charming side of town
So do I.
And is it ever going to be fantastic. I can’t wait to start hosting guests there in April.
The gazebo and the grounds around it needed some TLC.
Won’t it be sweet to get a relaxing massage in the gazebo?
Franco is a jack of all trades. As a kid growning up, he used to wonder what it was like behind the Estate’s walls. Now he knows.
This is what the dining room looked like when we started.
What used to be a living room has a fresh coat of paint and is now our dining room.
The dining room now has a bar where the paintings are stacked and a long table that can be separated into two.
The area around the pool was overgrown and branches from neglected trees were falling everywhere.
The area around the pool has been cleared of dead trees and brush and the project creating sitting and lounging areas will start in a couple of weeks.
Turns out Eva is as good with sand paper and a paint brush as she is with making Spritzes.
The ktichen was sweet but it needed a major overhaul to become a professional work space. Still, we are aiming to keep the rustic feel..
The kitchen transformation is almost complete.
This is going to be my favourite bedroom. We’re calling it the Duke’s room.