History

Our holidays in Piedmont began around 2006, when our interest in wine inspired us to vacation in the area around Barolo and the 11 wine towns in the Barolo region. Since then, we’ve spent many holidays and wine visits in the area. At some point, we started dreaming about owning a house in Piedmont—it just had to be the ultimate place because of the climate, food, wine, landscape, and the friendly locals. For a long time, it remained just talk, until various circumstances made us realize that now was the time to make our dream come true. And so we did. We travelled to Piedmont several times and viewed different properties. In the end, we bought the very first property we had seen—that was in the summer of 2015.

Naturally, the house had to have views over the vineyards, so we bought a 300-year-old rectory on a 13,000 m² plot planted with Barbera vines. The house—or what was left of it—was completely overgrown; there were even bushes growing inside. So there was nothing to do but tear everything down and build a new house inspired by the old architectural style of Piedmont. The only thing we could reuse was the old bricks. We later used them to build the ceiling in the ground floor, and the rest was used for paving the terraces around the house.

We began construction in February 2016 and, in an unconventional move, decided to build the pool first. It was ready for the summer of 2016, when we rented a nearby B&B and used the pool all day. Building the pool first turned out to be a great decision—after all, being in Piedmont was the most important thing, regardless of how much money had been invested in the property. By April 2017, the house foundation was complete, along with the 25 m² utility/technical room, which included a toilet, laundry room, washing machine, and tumble dryer. This allowed us to spend primitive holidays there, sleeping on air mattresses and swimming in the pool. We even had friends visit for a whole week in summer 2017, camping in tents on the property. It was cozy luxury camping for two families on 25 m²—an unforgettable week!

The house was completed, and we moved in in July 2018, ready to live out our dream in Piedmont. We hope all our guests at Villa Quercia will enjoy the house, the location, and the pool as much as we do.

Quercia is pronounced “kvertia” and means “oak tree” in Italian. There are still oak trees on the property facing Via Rodotiglia, but the name comes from a large oak that once stood on the grounds, which was sadly destroyed many years ago. In 2020, we planted a new oak, which we hope will stand for many generations to come.

Have a wonderful holiday at Villa Quercia
Anette & Henrik