Hilf David und seiner Familie ein Bauernhaus zu restaurieren! Toskana, Italien
Beschreibung
Dear guests,
The work can be hard, but so is the play. We're a family fixing up a country house, raising two children, cultivating an organic garden, and caring for 50 olive trees. So we're pretty flat out. We're near Chiusi in Central Italy, halfway between Roma and Firenze, Assisi and Siena. The house and grounds are within an old estate ensuring privacy and providing swimming pools, tennis courts, playing fields, and wooded parkland.
The work can be hard, but so is the play. We're a family fixing up a country house, raising two children, cultivating an organic garden, and caring for 50 olive trees. So we're pretty flat out. We're near Chiusi in Central Italy, halfway between Roma and Firenze, Assisi and Siena. The house and grounds are within an old estate ensuring privacy and providing swimming pools, tennis courts, playing fields, and wooded parkland.
Region
Tuscany, Umbria
Arten von Arbeit
Help in the house,General Maintenance,
Building,
Gardening
Arbeit
We are slowly restoring an abandoned country farmhouse with an interest in preserving its original features and natural aged character. Wherever possible we are recovering and reusing original building materials. You will learn some old-world masonry skills helping with the house, and get a feel for Tuscan soil cultivating the vegetable garden or keeping the orchard tidy.
Right now, we're working in the cantina (ground floor) to establish a new living area for the house. It's heavy and therefore possibly dangerous work sometimes requiring an electric impact hammer and a cement mixer. After completing the last of the internal wall modifications, we will be preparing to install the underfloor heating system.
I also have a few woodworking tools and we'll knock out the odd carpentry project. With the recent work, we prefer those volunteers with some building experience, although there are no specific skills required.
In nearby Paciano where the girls go to school, they are celebrating the end of Winter. The harvest is long over, it's the season for pruning. Only broccoli and cavolo nero thrive in our vegetable garden, but that means great italian winter soups. Luckily, this year the sun has warmed the orchard and encourages us to get outdoors.
We have a house with two children to run. This means dishes to wash, floors to sweep, laundry to dry, lawns to mow, and children to teach. Although they are English/American by birth, they are learning Italian natively and must keep up their language lessons is both tongues. Since we live in a building site with less than modern conveniences, all this can take a little more effort than you may be used to, but the deal for utopia never promised laziness.
Right now, we're working in the cantina (ground floor) to establish a new living area for the house. It's heavy and therefore possibly dangerous work sometimes requiring an electric impact hammer and a cement mixer. After completing the last of the internal wall modifications, we will be preparing to install the underfloor heating system.
I also have a few woodworking tools and we'll knock out the odd carpentry project. With the recent work, we prefer those volunteers with some building experience, although there are no specific skills required.
In nearby Paciano where the girls go to school, they are celebrating the end of Winter. The harvest is long over, it's the season for pruning. Only broccoli and cavolo nero thrive in our vegetable garden, but that means great italian winter soups. Luckily, this year the sun has warmed the orchard and encourages us to get outdoors.
We have a house with two children to run. This means dishes to wash, floors to sweep, laundry to dry, lawns to mow, and children to teach. Although they are English/American by birth, they are learning Italian natively and must keep up their language lessons is both tongues. Since we live in a building site with less than modern conveniences, all this can take a little more effort than you may be used to, but the deal for utopia never promised laziness.
gesprochene Sprachen
Italiano, English
Unterkunft
Spare room in the house
Was noch ...
Many people lament about rampant materialism, commercialism, consumerism, and the loss of touch with the 'real world.' Few do much about it. We've managed to find a small way to exercise our options and get back to the land. It's not a retreat, a hostel, a de-programming experience or an off-the grid alternative life style. It's just an old house in the country where we try to make some tangible improvements.
Our house is ancient, rustic but comfortable. The rooms are small, but there are a lot of them. The shower is outdoors, but there is an indoor bathroom. To those used to luxurious, spotless accommodation, it may feel a bit like camping; but in a nice, indoor way. There is a gentle, local dog and an outdoor cat to keep everyone company.
A free phone line to the U.S. or Europe is always available as is wireless internet. We are happy to help with travel and translation.
We enjoy a friendly household. We're not running a business, but when we are here, it's a busy place with numerous visitors. We are popular with Workaway guests. When the work is over, there are plenty of sights to see which we can help you get to. We are very aware that this is a reciprocal arrangement, and will do what we can to reward you for a few chores.
Although the house is in the country, we are well served by public transport. The nearby Chiusi train station is a major, central Tuscan stop with connections to the rest of Italy and Europe. Roma, Firenze, Siena, Arezzo, Orvieto, or Perugia can be easily reached by train. You can walk to the bus stop in the morning with the children and find the local cafe or bakery. There are even a few old racing bikes hanging around the cantina. The estate we live on provides many lovely walks through native woodland.
RyanAir.com flies from London directly to Perugia, which is a very pleasant hour's drive from us. The airports in Rome are about two and a half hours by car or train.
Please check the availability calendar since we often travel back and forth to UK or the US. We require no life-style restrictions. We try not to smoke, but we do enjoy a fresh, local wine at supper. We are particularly patient with more mature volunteers. Please email us with your questions and your plans.
Our sincere thanks to all our family and friends who have come to visit us. Your contributions have helped make our house comfortable and our family happy. Best wishes to all you travellers out there.
Our house is ancient, rustic but comfortable. The rooms are small, but there are a lot of them. The shower is outdoors, but there is an indoor bathroom. To those used to luxurious, spotless accommodation, it may feel a bit like camping; but in a nice, indoor way. There is a gentle, local dog and an outdoor cat to keep everyone company.
A free phone line to the U.S. or Europe is always available as is wireless internet. We are happy to help with travel and translation.
We enjoy a friendly household. We're not running a business, but when we are here, it's a busy place with numerous visitors. We are popular with Workaway guests. When the work is over, there are plenty of sights to see which we can help you get to. We are very aware that this is a reciprocal arrangement, and will do what we can to reward you for a few chores.
Although the house is in the country, we are well served by public transport. The nearby Chiusi train station is a major, central Tuscan stop with connections to the rest of Italy and Europe. Roma, Firenze, Siena, Arezzo, Orvieto, or Perugia can be easily reached by train. You can walk to the bus stop in the morning with the children and find the local cafe or bakery. There are even a few old racing bikes hanging around the cantina. The estate we live on provides many lovely walks through native woodland.
RyanAir.com flies from London directly to Perugia, which is a very pleasant hour's drive from us. The airports in Rome are about two and a half hours by car or train.
Please check the availability calendar since we often travel back and forth to UK or the US. We require no life-style restrictions. We try not to smoke, but we do enjoy a fresh, local wine at supper. We are particularly patient with more mature volunteers. Please email us with your questions and your plans.
Our sincere thanks to all our family and friends who have come to visit us. Your contributions have helped make our house comfortable and our family happy. Best wishes to all you travellers out there.
Famous People
A gallery of WorkawayersKlicken Sie auf ein Bild für eine größere Ansicht.
Host ref number: 000000000271
Feedback left about host
Myself (Jules) and my wife Michelle recently spent 6 weeks with David and family. Our main task was organic olive picking, which was really great fun with a true sense of achievement when taking the olives to press! Other tasks we were involved in were restoration of the buildings (all under the guidance of David, who ensured safety) and general more
I just completed 2 weeks of Workaways with Alex and her two daughters Thomasina and Isolde (David was in America) and I instantly felt welcome and part of the family. I was helping Alex in the garden mowing, weeding, composting, planting - the work was hot and sweaty but rewarding. Alex was really eager to make you feel comfortable and give advice more
I volunteered with Alex and David two years ago and had the best time! They were very accommodating and enthusiastic, and Isolde and Thomasina were (are) sweethearts. Sitting around the dinner table with them and in their living room are great memories!
Although I had fun running around pruning olive trees, I really enjoyed being able to get more
Although I had fun running around pruning olive trees, I really enjoyed being able to get more
I was able to spend the month of July with David, Alex and their two wonderful young daughters Thomasina and Isolda helping with the restoration of their unique and charming family house in Tuscany.
The whole project and the set up is facinating and continually evolving, there is never a shortage of challenges and experiences to be found and I more
The whole project and the set up is facinating and continually evolving, there is never a shortage of challenges and experiences to be found and I more
This was our first (and we hope, far from our last) Workaway stay. Frankly, I think our experience with David and family would be hard to beat. David worked hard to juggle his list of volunteers so that we could help with the olive harvest. He and Alex could not have been more gracious hosts. The first thing we did after being picked up at the more
Alex, David and the girls were great hosts - they made us feel at home straightaway, and we loved the fact that they let us use our own initiative. Thankfully the tasks that we completed did seem to help them out in some way! The work was hard but rewarding, and the fact that they obviously appreciated everything that was done was the best more
We are veteran workaway hosts yet have never left a recommendation before this. If you are a potential host and feel the perfect guest should be self-sufficient, a self-starter, an independent problem solver, mindful of her own hours, pickup after herself, be cheerful and full of praise even if it's fake, never complain about the local wine, or more
This will not be an unbiased rating. Giles fits in here like a brother. He's intelligent, witty, quiet, and well-mannered. You can trust him with anything. He anticipates and contributes. He accepts our quirky household as if it were his own. The kids, guests, other volunteers, neighbors, and even the dog love this guy. He's a self-starter more
We just finished our first Workaway with David and Alex and their wonderful girls,Thomasina and Isolda and we cannot say enough good things about the experience. Jane & I(Ron),our daughter Marina(16) and her friend Dana(15) arrived not knowing quite what to expect and were delighted to find gracious hosts and engaging children who our girls took more
Bitte melde Dich an, um eine Bewertung abzugeben.
