From the Holiday rental towards a new Awareness...
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
My family, My foundations
A dream. That's how things actually start, right?
My mom and dad had a dream, after many years in a small apartment they fulfilled their first dream: to move in the countryside in a beautiful Tuscan farmhouse. There, we grew up and my mom, she was dreaming to open a holiday home!
This was back in the 1990's when I was only a little girl.
My parents, Marina and Francesco, made their dream come true, and started a holiday home business with simplicity and love. This happened when the large internet market did not yet exist, but they still managed to start their business quite successfully.
My father, who has always valued every difficulty as a new opportunity, ...
My mom and dad had a dream, after many years in a small apartment they fulfilled their first dream: to move in the countryside in a beautiful Tuscan farmhouse. There, we grew up and my mom, she was dreaming to open a holiday home!
This was back in the 1990's when I was only a little girl.
My parents, Marina and Francesco, made their dream come true, and started a holiday home business with simplicity and love. This happened when the large internet market did not yet exist, but they still managed to start their business quite successfully.
My father, who has always valued every difficulty as a new opportunity, ...
began to devote more and more time and analysis to this business until he decided to set up an online agency for holiday homes and villas. What was initially a simple farm, became the successful test to find new clients and new possibilities.
My grandparents, originally from Montevarchi, had inherited a house for the summer in the small square of a small village on top of a hill. A place always breezy and cool, ideal to spend the hot Mediterranean summers. In the same small square my grandmother, Andreina Fracassini, had inherited other "rooms", other accommodations that until then had been rented to local families. Once they remained empty, my parents saw a new opportunity for their job as hosts. Little by little, over the years, with their savings, they began to renovate these beautiful stone houses, dating back to the Middle Ages.
My brothers and I, Edoardo the younger, and Giulio the older, had the pleasure and great fortune to grow up in a corner of paradise. Immersed in nature, with dogs, cats and horses (another of my father's dreams, which has also become mine!), with many people from other countries, with different languages and cultures. With many children, many new friends to play with every time, every week. So many new friends to say "Goodbye" to, and every time with so many tears. Our summers were different, our parents worked hard and we tried to help them as much as we could. For us, family holidays were in winter, at Christmas, but that's another story...
We have been enriched and blessed by our parents' dream, this has contributed a lot to the people we have become.
Grazie Mamma, Grazie Babbo
My grandparents, originally from Montevarchi, had inherited a house for the summer in the small square of a small village on top of a hill. A place always breezy and cool, ideal to spend the hot Mediterranean summers. In the same small square my grandmother, Andreina Fracassini, had inherited other "rooms", other accommodations that until then had been rented to local families. Once they remained empty, my parents saw a new opportunity for their job as hosts. Little by little, over the years, with their savings, they began to renovate these beautiful stone houses, dating back to the Middle Ages.
My brothers and I, Edoardo the younger, and Giulio the older, had the pleasure and great fortune to grow up in a corner of paradise. Immersed in nature, with dogs, cats and horses (another of my father's dreams, which has also become mine!), with many people from other countries, with different languages and cultures. With many children, many new friends to play with every time, every week. So many new friends to say "Goodbye" to, and every time with so many tears. Our summers were different, our parents worked hard and we tried to help them as much as we could. For us, family holidays were in winter, at Christmas, but that's another story...
We have been enriched and blessed by our parents' dream, this has contributed a lot to the people we have become.
Grazie Mamma, Grazie Babbo
The transition
Time has passed, we've grown up and as it happens, we've gone our own ways.
While our parents continued to work hard, we have all become "adults". Our life went on with school, friends and our leisure time away from that carefree life we had as children. My brother Edoardo, after school, started working in a restaurant and then decided to go on a wonderful adventure in Australia for a year.
In the meantime I was studying languages at the University of Bologna and I was away from home for four years, spending some time studying Mandarin in China. Then that fateful day arrived: deciding the future of the family business. Our parents felt it was time to "pass the ball".Ever since we were little, we got used to the idea that they would leave, they would move elsewhere to live a quieter life, sooner or later they would leave everything. It was a question of deciding whether we would continue the business or whether they would have to look for other people to do it.
My brother Edoardo and I then decided to take over the family business. We made our changes while keeping alive the passion and concept of "hospitality" that we had learned from our mother. We always gave vital importance to the people who came to stay with us, always trying to give our best and trying to provide special moments to our guests.
For three years we worked together, with the difficulties that come with working between family members, but with great satisfaction for both of us.
My older brother, Giulio, is a man with Down syndrome. My parents raised him normally so as to prepare him for an independent life.The time has come, and Giulio has gone to live "alone" in a facility that helps disabled people in this path of life away from the family.
While our parents continued to work hard, we have all become "adults". Our life went on with school, friends and our leisure time away from that carefree life we had as children. My brother Edoardo, after school, started working in a restaurant and then decided to go on a wonderful adventure in Australia for a year.
In the meantime I was studying languages at the University of Bologna and I was away from home for four years, spending some time studying Mandarin in China. Then that fateful day arrived: deciding the future of the family business. Our parents felt it was time to "pass the ball".Ever since we were little, we got used to the idea that they would leave, they would move elsewhere to live a quieter life, sooner or later they would leave everything. It was a question of deciding whether we would continue the business or whether they would have to look for other people to do it.
My brother Edoardo and I then decided to take over the family business. We made our changes while keeping alive the passion and concept of "hospitality" that we had learned from our mother. We always gave vital importance to the people who came to stay with us, always trying to give our best and trying to provide special moments to our guests.
For three years we worked together, with the difficulties that come with working between family members, but with great satisfaction for both of us.
My older brother, Giulio, is a man with Down syndrome. My parents raised him normally so as to prepare him for an independent life.The time has come, and Giulio has gone to live "alone" in a facility that helps disabled people in this path of life away from the family.
The awarness for a new form of Hospitality
I have always felt a particular vocation for this work. During my university studies, I chose the course of Languages applied to tourism and I had a strong desire to find new possibilities in this sector. At first, I didn't think I would dedicate myself to the family business because my pride prevented me from taking over something that was not mine. I was wrong, in a hotel chain I would have never been able to best express this vocation of mine, and thanks to a precious piece of advice, I opened my eyes and embarked on this adventure.
At the end of 2019 just like the change we all go through to becoming adults, Edoardo is off on new challenges.
This huge change scared me at first but then it triggered a strong transformation in what would become MY way of working. A transformation that I believe has fulfilled my desire of a few years before: the desire to create something of mine, to give to the activity that someone else had built, my personal contribution and change.
At the end of 2019 just like the change we all go through to becoming adults, Edoardo is off on new challenges.
This huge change scared me at first but then it triggered a strong transformation in what would become MY way of working. A transformation that I believe has fulfilled my desire of a few years before: the desire to create something of mine, to give to the activity that someone else had built, my personal contribution and change.
Our houses have been part of our family for a long time, but improvement, constant improvement, is something we work on, every season. Our houses, hospitality and continuous change are the vehicles we use to offer travelers the real Tuscany.
What excites our clients the most is the simplicity with which we live, in the kitchen, at the market, in relationships, in a warm and friendly atmosphere. I think it is difficult to describe an emotion, but our challenge is to be able to accompany you on a journey of deep knowledge of being Tuscany. We will take you to taste our local products and our excellent food and wine to make you touch the land from which they are born and appreciate the products thanks to the love of the people who take care of them. Ours is an exciting, human and sustainable journey to discover "our home". We want to offer you emotions so that everyone can take home, and in your heart, personal and unique memories of your trip to Tuscany.
What excites our clients the most is the simplicity with which we live, in the kitchen, at the market, in relationships, in a warm and friendly atmosphere. I think it is difficult to describe an emotion, but our challenge is to be able to accompany you on a journey of deep knowledge of being Tuscany. We will take you to taste our local products and our excellent food and wine to make you touch the land from which they are born and appreciate the products thanks to the love of the people who take care of them. Ours is an exciting, human and sustainable journey to discover "our home". We want to offer you emotions so that everyone can take home, and in your heart, personal and unique memories of your trip to Tuscany.