About Us
Our return to the essential
In 2020, we left the city and moved here, into the woods of Monteverdi Marittimo.
We weren't just looking for a house.
We were looking for a different way of living.
Slower.
More real.
Closer to the earth.
When we arrived at La Gualda Vecchia, we knew almost nothing about the countryside, gardens, plants, or woods.
We learned by observing, making mistakes, and listening.
And it is perhaps this humble approach that has allowed us to truly connect with this place.
Living in a place with respect
La Gualda Vecchia is not a place to be “consumed”. This 16th-century farmhouse carries centuries of stories, work, peasant festivals, silences, and transformations.
For us, it is a place to cherish.
Every day, we strive to leave the lightest possible footprint, in big and small choices: in the materials we use, in the food we serve, in the people we collaborate with, in the way we welcome guests.
We prefer what is real over what is perfect. What has a story over what is standardized.
Most of the elements in the apartments and garden are made by local artisans, using natural materials, worked slowly and with care.
The pursuit of beauty
We believe that beauty has a profound value.
Not the kind built to impress, but the kind that makes you feel good.
It is a force that can change the way we live, feel, and relate to others and to nature.
The light entering the yurt in the morning. The scent of wood and wild herbs. A carefully prepared table. The sounds of the woods at night.
We are inspired by the ancient idea that beauty can nourish the soul, restore harmony, and remind us of something essential. Perhaps Dostoevsky was right when he wrote that "beauty will save the world."
But only if we first learn to recognize it again.
Sincere hospitality
We never wanted to create an impersonal place.
Those who arrive here, in a way, also enter our world.
Every experience at La Gualda Vecchia originates from what we live.
The Emotional Garden. The yurt in the woods. The practices, the rituals, the shared meals, the silence.
Nothing is designed to "entertain."
Instead, we aim to create conditions for people to truly slow down, breathe better, and feel more present. With simplicity. Without forcing anything. Without masks.
A living home
La Gualda Vecchia is not a hotel built to order. It is a home that continues to transform with us.
There are still incomplete projects, ideas taking shape, newly planted trees, and paths slowly emerging. And perhaps this is precisely what people perceive when they arrive here:
something alive, imperfect, sincere.
Before being hospitality,
this is the place that changed us.
