Ten years ago I embarked on a journey with two friends from London one English and one Italian(Roman) , we ended up in Tuscany restoring a casa padronale in the Val di Chiana and creating one of the first boutique guest houses in the Tuscany(and maybe in Italy) . With no previous experience in the industry our learning curve was perpendicular we could write several books on our experiences but to avoid embarassing ourselves and our guests we had better keep quiet. Villa Fontelunga opened in June 2000 and ten years later is still going strong. http://www.fontelunga.com/.
Four years after opening and with the traumas of dealing with builders ,Italian bureaucracy and meeting opening deadlines seemingly long forgotten memories we embarked on our next project. The restoration/rebuilding of a rudere in the valley behind us to create three independent Villas in a contemporary style for rental which would be serviced from the guest house. Having completed these and suffering in varying degrees from stress, ulcers and back pain we all vowed never to do it again.
Now I was permanently in Italy and living in the guest house annexe with my friends and working and living on top of each other I thought it was time to do something by myself and have my own home in Italy. I sold my home in London in 2007 and I bought an ugly 1970s house in Liguria(just.. not far from the border with Tuscany) and so began my own journey to create my home and a small B&B. Three years later I am still going and I am still optimistic that we will open in spring 2011.
