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Last replied
8 Feb 2025
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Ciao, we are Paula and Ramon, and we have a home in the mountains, just a 15-minute drive above the ancient city of Rossano. A few years ago, we moved here after finding 10 hectares of breathtaking forest, 500 meters up, with a cabin tucked among the trees. At this height, nature is optimally biodiverse and spectacular.
The land is expansive and has three ruins that hold the potential to be rebuilt, five natural water sources, and plenty ancient trees. We live peacefully in the middle of Calabrian nature, which Ramon studies as a botanist. His passion for plants has led us to cultivate both an outdoor and greenhouse garden, filled with more than half a thousand rare fruit species from all over the world. The climate is so mild in the winter that many subtropical species survive it well outside of the greenhouse.
Paula, meanwhile, runs a vintage clothing webshop that we are incredibly proud of. We source vintage (60's to 90's) Italian garments locally, often handmade, crafted with natural fibers from a time when quality was the standard. Around the property, you'll also find many chickens roaming freely (a special breed from Malaysia), and, of course, our beloved dogs Kanjo and Lupa. We are passionate about expanding our family of animals and hope to bring equine companions into the mix in the future.
We love making things ourselves, especially things that are beautiful and built to last. We have a wood and metal workshop and the tools a serious gardener—or small farmer—would need. Our vision is to create a garden that is so beautiful to the eyes, nose, mouth and ears that it inspires those that live there to continue to create more beauty, adding to it, instead of just witnessing it. Our dream is that this place will not merely be a home for one family, but a shared space where multiple healthy families can live in harmony, each contributing to a larger shared vision. The ruins on our land are waiting to be brought back to life and inhabited.
Life, to us, is a gift that should be honored by taking, willfully, responsibilies onto us that are easily left for others. We moved away from an environment that felt fake, ego driven and hollow. A world covered in the slime of moralistic politics and marinated in a greedy philosophy that produces ugly art. Everyone is green yet no one knows anything about nature. We choosing instead to cherishes connection, nature, and collaboration. Building for a future, of seeking the beauty of naked truth. We see purpose in the work we do, and the value of actions taken with honor, respect for nature, and a genuine commitment to something larger than ourselves. We choose to invest our time and effort into what does not immediately serve us but ultimately contributes to a bigger picture—something that nourishes us in return. In this world that can often feel empty and detached, we strive to create a meaningful existence, grounded in beauty and the tangible.
We are searching for builders, farmers, cultivators, and craftsmen and women of all kinds—people whose skills are not just hobbies but true talents that others would recognize and value. We offer a comfortable stay in a self-contained home just a few minutes’ walk from us, with a hearth, all the essentials of a well-loved home, and a view that will take your breath away. I bet most of your time will be spent immersed in the garden anyway, or with the animals, or hiking the nature or, hopefully, by bringing creative projects to life.
The amount of help varies depending on the context and the moment. More than just work, we are interested in connections—genuine exchanges that inspire and elevate everyone involved. If you feel a calling, we would love to welcome you here.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Gardening
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Interests
Van life
Videography
Fashion or beauty
Farming
Plant care
Music
History
DIY & crafts
Books
Art & design
Photography
Languages
Gardening
Cooking & food
Writing
Performing arts
Hitchhiking
Drawing & painting
Carpentry
Animals
Winter sports
Mountain
Dancing
Water sports
Outdoor activities
Hiking
Adventure sports
Cycling
Nature
Camping
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Paula is psychologist by study (Dutch university), but expert in vintage clothing by profession. Ramon has studied Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry (Dutch university - same one ;) ) but works with plants and artificial intelligence. We have, between us, valuable experience in:
Plant cultivation, vintage clothing, Woodworking, some metalworking (apprentice welder), Biodiversity and Evolution, mushroom foraging and how to keep animals. Also present, through close friends and family here: Southern Italian culture and language, cheesemaking, wineproduction and biological farming, amongst many other things.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
People with green thumbs and those with a trade, all trades welcome. We love to learn and help learn.
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Italian: Intermediate
French: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
If you speak Japanese or Sanskrit we would be very interested in that. :)
Accommodation
~50 m2 seperate house in very good state, kitchen, shower, bed, etc.
Food I will not say anything else than this is Italy. Southern Italy.
What else ...
We live in a mountainous area without any public transport, so ideally you have some method of transport.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Internet is good, just don't hack it or I'll get angry.
Space for parking camper vans
We have superbly beautiful spaces for parking and living campers (we have a camper too) made specifically for people to stay at, with a springwater line for water.
Can possibly accept pets
Pigs, goats, sheep, donkeys and dogs welcome.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
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