Renovating a 200 Year Old Italian FarmHouse | Masseria Specula Retreat Venue

Carlo shares his journey with Venue Retreat on how he always felt drawn to

Name: Carlo

Venue Name: Masseria Specula

Location: Italy

Tell us about yourself!:

Hi! I'm Carlo. I founded Masseria Specula because I'm passionate about living sustainably, and I want to encourage others to do the same. Masseria Specula is a high-end retreat venue where we're proud to use and promote sustainable practices on site - in everything from being solar powered, to using locally-sourced products and food for our guests. I'm hoping that when our guests stay with us, they see that making simple changes can collectively have a big impact.

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Becoming a venue owner:

I'm a local, and growing up I've always known about these abandoned old structures called Masserie which were typically built two centuries ago and used for farming. Masseria Specula has always been a striking building for me - it's unusually close to the sea, surrounded by beautiful farmland, and so when I saw that it was up for sale - I thought this was my chance. After buying the structure, I worked closely with the architect to ensure that the building could support the sustainable practices I dreamed of.

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Uniqueness:

A Masseria is traditionally located inland and surrounded by fields for agriculture, but Masseria Specula is only a 15 minute walk to the beach, which makes for breathtaking views from our venue. We're proud to only use minimal plastic at our venue, serve vegetarian and vegan food, use local seasonal ingredients, and we source products made from natural and regenerative materials (for example in our soaps and shampoos which our guests love!). We've invested in solar panels, and our tree planing programme aims to reforest 15 hectares of the surrounding land.

Dreams & Goals:

I'd love our guests to see that being sustainable is easy, and that small changes make a big difference.

Challenges:

Designing an experience that's sustainable has been the most challenging and rewarding. We've spent time doing extensive research into environmentally friendly practices, which included calculating the average carbon emissions per guest so that we can be sure that our goals are really having an impact.

Connecting with us!:

Through extensive research, Venue Retreats struck me as offering high-quality services to retreat organisers, and I wanted our venue to be part of your network.

Advice:

Be bold, and don't give up on promoting your ethos. You will inevitably have challenges along the way, but it's exciting to find those solutions for your venue and your future guests.

Available remaining dates for 2024:

8th - 13th April
20th - 27th April
4th - 8th May
1st - 7th July
13th July - 31st August
28th October- 31st December

Susan Kind (via Google Reviews):
"From the moment we stepped inside the grounds of the Masseria we felt instantly welcomed and entered a wonderful peaceful sanctuary. Our room was beautiful and sympathetically restored, retaining the original character of the Masseria. We loved experiencing the sunrise and sunsets from our private terrace, and we were kept cool by the breeze coming in from the sea.

The stunning beach was just a short walk away, with turquoise clear water.
We had a very warm welcome from the staff who went out of their way to make our stay a memorable one. Our breakfast consisted of delicious breads, jams, pastries, granola, fruits and amazing coffee.
Also loved what the team are doing with regards to conservation.... the bees, the bat boxes, no plastic and the solar panels to name just a few!

We will be back!"

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