Our first guests of 2024 arrived at the Villa yesterday. You can see our little yellow house in the lower right corner.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing about getting our second Amazing Abruzzo Tours location ready for its first season. This week, I’m writing about our first location, Villa d’Abruzzo.
The Villa crew. L to R: Lisa, Alina, Anna, Andreea, and Rovaina.
To be exact, I’m going to write about the role the Villa has played in the lives of my wife, Lisa Grassi Blais, and myself since we first saw it almost 12 years ago.
That may sound strange. Like how does a building have an impact on somebody’s life? It’s not like a building can give you important life advice like how to avoid getting STDs in your 20s, or what type of tires are best of a 1969 GTO Judge.
As everybody knows, that type of future altering guidance comes from drinking buddies at the bar.
But hear me out because the Villa affected us in a big way.
I was thinking of this last week as we, and a group of our co-workers, got the Villa ready for our first guests of the year, who arrived yesterday. (Great group by the way.)
The backyard is looking great. The pool is now heated and ready all year long.
Twelve years ago, Lisa and I came up with the idea of opening a tour company in Italy’s Abruzzo region where her grandfather was born and raised before he moved to Canada more than 110 years ago.
In the summer of 2012, we decided to look at some properties to see if our business idea was even possible on our budget. We hadn’t really planned to make a decision at the time, we just wanted to see if we were dreaming or not.
The dining room awaits.
Then, we saw this old building in the town of Torre de’Passeri. It was rundown. The backyard was jungle. There were pigeons living on the second floor. But it was the right size and it was solid. We only saw potential.
So, we got an estimate on how much it would cost to bring it up to speed.
Financially, we could do it if we went all in. Was it a risk? Sure. But something about the place told us it was the right building in the right location. The more we thought about it and researched, the more we were convinced.
So, eleven years ago, we sold almost everything we owned and sunk it into the Villa. Almost nine years ago, we moved into it as the final renovations were being completed. About eight years ago, we moved out, and the first guests arrived.
The living room is ready for socializing.
We worked every day that year with a small group of co-workers and hosted roughly 250 guests. People loved the Villa. Many said it felt like being at “home” the minute they walked in.
It was a big part of our success and as word-of-mouth spread, the next year jumped to 300 guests, then 350 for a couple years, then Covid.
In those early years, we lived in a two-bedroom rented apartment during our tours seasons and moved back into the Villa in the winters. So, in the spring of 2020, as our entire season went down the drain, we didn’t move out. Instead, we rode out the first year of the pandemic in the lap of the Villa’s luxury. It was a refuge as we wondered what the future might bring.
I love this Villa bedroom.
For us, the Villa brought comfort during that time. We sat by the wood stove or the pool a lot in 2020 and 2021 knowing that if things went back to normal, the Villa would be there to host guests again, or, if it all went wrong, we’d have a great place to live.
Business roared back in 2022 with more than 400 guests. Phew. Furthermore, bookings for 2023 were rolling in fast. That allowed Lisa and I to finally fulfill our dream of buying a little Italian farmhouse overlooking our town, just for us and our mutts. We moved in about a year ago. We love it, and we can see the Villa from our front yard.
Last year was our longest season with 450 guests staying at the Villa and this year is almost completely full again.
The front courtyard is pretty sweet too.
This gave us the confidence to open the second location, which will see its first guests April 6.
As I was cleaning the Villa’s pool yesterday, it occurred to me that our lives, our livelihoods, and out futures have been intertwined with the old building for more than a dozen years.
We took a chance on it and brought it back into shape. In return, it has allowed us to live a very rewarding life in a beautiful part of the world. It’s kept us fed and allowed us to get a place of our own. It gave us comfort during a difficult time.
Like I said, and I know it sounds strange, but the Villa really has played a major role in our lives.
So, ya, a building can impact your life.
For instance, I know several people whose lives have been impacted immensely by courthouses.
See what I mean?