Need some extra hands at our home on Como Lake, Italy

Details

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  Description

  Need some extra hands in february/march and in spring/summer 2026: we are actually looking for a person who can help with some fixing in the house/in the garden (such as painting, pruning, etc), therefore despite we normally host people for long periods we are actually also open to short stays because these light projects do not require a long time to be competed.
  
  
  We are a family of 4, living on Como Lake in a quiet area. Sandro is professor of chemistry at University and I, Mara, work in a botanic garden as head of education at Bergamo Botanic Garden. My job keeps me away from home at least 3 days a week but I come home for the weekend and do some smartworking during the week when I am not in Bergamo. We have two daughters, Margherita and Alice: Marghe is actually a PhD student in Germany, and is therefore away from home. Alice studies in Milan but she is very often at home on the lake, even if in certain periods she stays in Milan. We all run a very full life with our jobs and other engagements but we like enjoying the beauty of the place we live. Fifteen years ago we decided to come to live in the coutryside escaping from the chaotic town of Milan. And here we realized how important it is to live in a quiet area and to be surrounded by the mountains and the lake, despite our busy lives.
  We need an extra hand because Sandro now is often very busy with his work and cannot manage both the house and the garden alone during the week and Mara is often away because of her job.
  
  We have had many other experiences with aupair girls when our daughters were little, and they were all positive: we now have very good friends from other countries!
  We all speak fluent English.
  We have a Cat, Millo, who likes coming inside at night and for his meals, although he loves staying in the garden during the day; but if you are allergic...maybe his presence could be a problem for you!
  We ideally look for short stays of about 2 weeks.
  We'd love to host people who are happy to take part to the family life and who enjoy the pleasure of being together in a relaxed atmoshpere.
  We can only accommodate one person.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  House & pet sitting
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We love contaminations with other cultures, so far now we hosted 18 girls and it's been a great experience for all of us besides being an opportunity for making friends with people from all over the world!!

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  Help

  We are actually looking for a person to come and stay with us in february/march.
  Since Mara is away from home some days a week we need some extra help to manage the house and the garden.
  Sandro works in Como from Monday to Friday and he arrives home at 7 pm, and he has little time to care for the vegetable garden (we grow courgettes, aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, salad, green beans, onions, artichokes, etc. ) and for the garden (we cut the grass once a week). We also need help with tiding up the house and cleaning: we are not clean freak but the house needs some care ad if you do a little day by day the time to be dedicated could be very little.
  Hosting an aupair girl /boy would be a new adventure that we are happy to experience again, and we feel that staying with us would be a good opportunity for an active person to enjoy the area.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  We live in a wooden eco-house; it's a two storey detached house with garden where you will have your little bedroom with two big windows facing the mountains.
  We love cooking and eating, therefore you will be happy to try italian food, but we'd also be very happy to try other nationalities'recipies!
  We have wifi access and it is free.
  We are not vegetarian, but we are trying to eat the less meat we can for sustainability reasons.

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  What else ...

  We do not smoke and therefore'd prefer to host a person who does not smoke.
  For what concerns the area we live: it's a touristic area in the warm season, from november to march it is very quiet because many hotels are closed. But still we enjoy beautiful and warm days (the lake makes the climate milder than in the lowland around Milan). We are close to Switzerland (less than 1 h drive) and to the mountains for ski resorts and hiking.
  Being here is like being always on holiday, but if you need to have urban-like amusement facilities such as theatres or cinemas...well, this could not be the place for you. But remember that the nearest town, Como, is 1 hour away by bus.There are pubs and cafes, in beautiful settings, but you will not find many discotheques or clubs. If you like hiking the mountains are behind the house, if you like swimming the lake is 10 mins from the doorstep.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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  My animals / pets

  

  Millo

  Lovely male cat, he adores cuddles and eating a lot of food (we try to keep him on a diet...he's quite old now and we need to care for his health!).
  He does not like travelling and is scared by other animals, therefore when we are away we look for someone to care for him: normally Alice's friends come and feed him. He just needs to be fed twice a day. He sometimes sleeps inside the house, on the sofa, sometimes likes to spend the night in his wooden house outdoor . During the day he is our housekeeper. Even though he is scared by dogs and some cats he gets on very well with some cats from the neighbourhood: he made friends with some of them and shares with them his meals.
  When we have lunch or dinner he loves to be part of the 'event' and he lies on the floor close to us.
  

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