Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
23 Apr 2024
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 1 day
Feedback
8
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Email verified
Badges (4)
Details
Description
We are a British couple living in the glorious Sabina countryside - an hour North of Rome.
Over the last five years we have been bringing an abandoned farm back to life.
We've finished a major renovation project inside the house, and outside we have 8.5 hectares of sloping Italian countryside, with gardens, orchard, 400 olive trees and a small area of vineyard too.
We have two friendly dogs, six hens, a large vegetable plot, and two bee hives.
We farm according to organic principles, and produce a delicious Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which is certified organic. This spring, we hope to produce organic honey too.
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE UNABLE TO HOST VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS OF APPLYING FOR ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are really passionate about our project here, having bought our little farm in 2018, when the house was a 1970's time piece, and the land had been abandoned for years.
Emma is an English teacher, so can help you to improve your English, and as you spend time in the area we can help you to improve your Italian too.
There is so much to see and do in the local area, which is famous for its Sabina DOP olive oil. We are also only around 60km from Rome (an hour by train).
Help
Most of the help that we require is outdoors, and is manual labour. Normally, we try to vary the work routine, so that no two days are the same, but the current goal is to complete a large scale landscaping project in our garden in order to site an overground pool there late spring 2024. This may mean you will be concentrating on one of the tasks to achieve this.
We currently need help creating a terraced area in our garden. The main walls have been built, but they still need the top plaster coat, followed by painting. The terraced area will be a wooden deck, the construction of which is a main task; therefore, if you have experience of constructing a decked area, including the layout and installation of posts, decking frame and boards, then this could be the job for you.
We still have some small block walls to build and plaster, then we will construct a paved area between them, on which to place an over ground pool this summer.
We are also renovating the external walls and guttering areas of the house; removing damaged areas of plaster, repairing cracks, plastering where required, and cleaning, in preparation to repaint the external walls when the temperatures outside allow us to. This task involves working on scaffolding.
As we like to travel, and head back to the UK a couple of times a year, we're also interested to hear from Workawayers who'd be happy to house sit for part of their stay, although this is not the driving factor for applications.
Depending on the time of year, we may also ask for help with the following:
* Decorating: both inside and outside
* Scrub clearing (we have literally miles of brambles to clear!)
* General gardening
* Pruning our olive trees (we have 400)
* Help with land maintenance
* House sitting (including animal care)
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Italian: Intermediate
Accommodation
A comfortable double room with an en-suite bathroom, connected to, yet independent from the main house, with its own entrance, and outdoor decking area.
The bedroom has a Smart TV (Netflix, UK digital players etc), smart speaker, tea and coffee, and of course there is internet access - we are friendly and hospitable, but also appreciate your (and our!) need for privacy and down time in your own space. Your free time can be spent in your room, or in the garden areas, which you would share with us.
Breakfast is provided in your room (there is a small fridge for milk, butter, jam etc), and lunch and supper are provided by us, which you can eat along with us, or in your own private area if you prefer. We can accommodate some special diets if you let us know in advance, and we're fine with veggies and vegans.
If you're staying while we are away from home, you will have our well equipped kitchen in which you can cook for yourself.
What else ...
We may not be at home for some of the time that you spend in our home, so it's worth knowing that we live on the edge of a small village. We are rural, but not completely isolated, and there is a (sporadic) bus service from the village, linking us to the local train station.
The village itself has a friendly bar, a tiny shop (Tabac), and two excellent restaurants, all of which are in walking distance.
If we are here during your stay, we can drop you at the local train station, from where you can be in Rome within the hour, or take a train to Orte, which has connections to Florence and to the North of Italy. There is also a direct train to the airport at Rome Fiumicino.
If you come with your own vehicle, you will really benefit from the gorgeous countryside and hilltowns which surround us.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
As we may be away from home during your stay, we can offer a private, tranquil space with decent (satellite) broadband available, should you wish to work from here
Space for parking camper vans
We are in a rural, but well connected setting. We are around 15 minutes from the A1 autostrada, so reaching us in your campervan is easy. We are located on a single track road on the edge of a village, with plenty of space to park your vehicle
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
25 per week
Feedback (4)
They designed, planned and built a landscaped path in our garden, which we are absolutely delighted with. We felt absolutely confident in their abilities, and they did a fantastic job.
They were also great company, and we would welcome them back any… read more
With Vladimir, we had a lot of fun doing all required tasks. We went there to help Emma & Scott building a wall, and we ended up having a possibility to do many other super cool things (building planters, fruit picking, help to put a drain...) !… read more
Aude helped us to complete a project that we were part way through, starting with filling a large, block wall with concrete in the pouring rain! She also helped with our citrus harvest, terracing our garden,… read more
They are very kind, fun, positive and generous people.
They made sure that we had a comfortable stay, we had access to everything we needed, and both of them are really good cooks!!
We worked on several very diverse projects, that was very enjoyable. We… read more
He is a lovely guy, never seen without a smile on his face!
He helped us to complete a project that we were part way through, starting with filling a large, block wall with concrete in the pouring rain! He also helped with our citrus harvest, terracing our garden, upcycling old… read more
Photos
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They designed, planned and built a landscaped path in our garden, which we are absolutely delighted with. We felt absolutely confident in their abilities, and they did a fantastic job.
They were also great company, and we would welcome them back any… read more
With Vladimir, we had a lot of fun doing all required tasks. We went there to help Emma & Scott building a wall, and we ended up having a possibility to do many other super cool things (building planters, fruit picking, help to put a drain...) !… read more
Aude helped us to complete a project that we were part way through, starting with filling a large, block wall with concrete in the pouring rain! She also helped with our citrus harvest, terracing our garden,… read more
They are very kind, fun, positive and generous people.
They made sure that we had a comfortable stay, we had access to everything we needed, and both of them are really good cooks!!
We worked on several very diverse projects, that was very enjoyable. We… read more
He is a lovely guy, never seen without a smile on his face!
He helped us to complete a project that we were part way through, starting with filling a large, block wall with concrete in the pouring rain! He also helped with our citrus harvest, terracing our garden, upcycling old… read more
We consider ourselves lucky to have been hosted by Emma and Scott. Emma and Scott made every effort to accommodate us ensuring we were well fed, comfortable in our accommodation and had the time and the means to explore the local wider areas.
During our stay we helped with a carpentry and home repair project.… read more
They stayed with us for almost three weeks, and were charming, polite, courteous, and fun to have around.
We had several very specific projects that we needed help with that they arrived expecting to do, but given that Scott had injured his knee on… read more
