We saw the house for the first time in September 2020. We both knew that this had to be it. Torben and Klaartje of Casa san Carlo, where we were staying at that time, helped us a lot with the estate agent, the viewing and the translation from Italian to Dutch. When we drove back to the Netherlands we knew that we wanted this house /project. Torben acted as our representative in the period between viewing and buying and, together with Mauro (the estate agent), did everything possible so that we could buy it. It was not easy, because the estate was owned by a family that did not always see eye to eye. Until the last day before the transfer it was still exciting, but finally, once again through the efforts of Torben and Mauro, everything worked out and by 16 March 2021 we were in possession of a farmhouse, lemon house and family house, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees. Everything had been neglected for 10 years, but that was the challenge.
Meanwhile we had sold our house in Almere and rented a house in Haarlem and were waiting for things to come. We did not have much influence on the process.

Gerard went to the Borgo with Wouter in mid-May and stayed there. Emmy was supposed to follow 2 June, but unfortunately this was cancelled due to a physical problem. First there had to be checks in the hospital followed by treatment. When Emmy would actually travel to the Borgo was then unclear. However, on the 31st of May all the stuff was put on transport and taken to Italy. For the time being Emmy stayed in the Netherlands with her eldest son Wouter and his family.

While waiting for the move, Torben hired some Italian olive tree pruners to prune the neglected 400 olive trees. They did a rigorous job so that there would be a new beginning to work on. The harvest, we expect, will not be pleasant in 2021.

Because we live quite rural, we also have co-inhabitants such as mice and rats. As we would rather not have these in the house, our friends gave us 2 kittens from their litter. They are meant to keep our houses pest-free. They are called "Stijn and Debbie" (after our friends :))

The olive harvest was very poor this year. The spring was very wet so there was little pollination, and 1 week before the harvest, there was a severe storm for several days which resulted in +/- 1/3 of the olives ending up on the ground.
In the end, with the help of our dear friends Jana and Jan, we still managed to produce 179 litres. And in 2 weeks everything was sold :).

After inspection by the office that issues agriturismu permits, permission for this finally came in December. We now have a licence to operate an agriturismo with 8 beds and an agricamping with 6 camping places (12 beds).
But.... like everything else here in Italy, this is not the proof, but apparently all sorts of things still have to be arranged with the municipality (Comune)
To be continued in 2024.

When we bought "the Borgo" we knew there was a problem with the Limonaia. After 3 years of thinking/weighing, listing pros and cons and finally finding the right people, we are going to renovate the Limonaia, in agreement with the Comune of Monteleone d'Orvieto, to make it a legal building. The intention is to make a little appartment for guests and rentals.

2024 is (we hope) the year when we can finally do something about the buildings. Starting with the limonaia. The goal is to have a fully functioning little appartment here at least before the next olive harvest.
Furthermore, we would like to have our infrastructure for electricity and water in order. We have been waiting for a quote for some time, but hopefully this will also be in place by 2024.
Seem like small goals, but quite challenging in practice.