B&B CASA DELLA NONNA

In 1863 Reinhilde was born. In 1891 she married Oscar.

 

Soon they decided to buy a simple house. In a one-room livingroom with kitchen corner and a bedroom under the roof, the family has five children. One of the daughters, Serena, would later become my grandmother.

​

Just before the First World War, the house gets a first extension. An oven to bake bread and a stable for a cow and a pig mark the start of a small farm. But the war calls all male family members and a mother remains behind with the rest of the family. It is hard to provide food for all family members. However, despite the war,  they do not suffer from hunger. The farm processes its own products such as milk, cheese, buttermilk, meat, eggs, vegetables and fruit.

​

In 1893, my grandmother Serena was born. She later marries Remi and in 1933 she gets a daughter, Lydie-Diane (later, just Diane), my mother. Serena and Remi buy the house over from her parents and add a stable and a hay barn. The farm runs well and everybody is happy. Although it is hard work on the farm and the land, they lead, by to their standards, a ‘rich’ life. In 1955, unfortunately, Grandpa Remi come to die. In 1958, Diane marries Frans. Together they hqve a daughter, Carine - this is me. Soon the house gets a little too small and does match modern standards. They decide to build a new house on the corner of the orchard. Everyone moves to the new house and the farm is rented out for a number of years. Then, after 2005 it is left empty.

​

In 1987, Carine marries Antonio and they have two children, Serena and Alessandro. They initially move to Brussels for six years, but the roots soon call them back.

​

Four generations, hence, have succeeded each other in this small farm. One more reason to keep this building. In 2012 the dream starts to renovate the farm, and the idea to create a bed and breakfast soon follows. The works start in January 2015, and after four years of plans, checks and coordination, building and furnishing are finally complete!

​

The name Casa Della Nonna literally means 'home of the grandmother',  Every grandmother gets a room named after her name: Reinhilde, Serena and Diane.