(translated by our friends Eugenio and Barbara De Rosa)

“CA’ del CARDO” means Carlo and Donatella’s casa or home. We chose the name “CARDO”, meaning “thistle, for two reasons: this plant embellishes our garden, and contains the initials of both our names (CARlo and DOnatella).

“Ca’ del Cardo” is the result of our great love for the countryside and our dream of creating a refuge from the stress which life in a city like our Rome, as beautiful as it is, inevitably brings. Like many others, our future plans centred around finding a place in the country to live serenely once we had finally retired from our jobs as company managers.

We thoroughly explored the Italian countryside before settling in the Marche, a wonderful part of Italy that remains mostly undiscovered. This is a region rich with culture thanks to its artistic heritage, beauty, and friendly local people. Here, soft, rolling hills meet the sea, whose blue shades merge with those of the Apennine mountains which, in turn, gradually blend in with the rich green Sibillini Mountains.

It was quite by chance that we settled in Staffolo, a fortified town of ancient origins which, for centuries, has produced the “Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi” wine. It was love at first sight. Staffolo’s vineyard-covered hills, marked by ridges and gullies, immediately transmitted a deep sense of peace, with their wide open spaces and ancient silence.

Our original plan, which meant postponing our move to Staffolo for another few years, suddenly seemed unbearable. We had a typical Marche farmhouse, over two centuries’ old, and we were only to enjoy it at the weekends. It would have been extremely frustrating. 

So we decided to leave our jobs and dedicate ourselves to a new life. A life that would allow us to share this magical place, bewitched by gullies, with old friends and new ones, our guests, alike. Welcome to what we call the most beautiful place in the world.

And that was how the “Ca’ del Cardo” came about.

Contacts:

cardo@cadelcardo.com

Tel. +39 0731 770007
Carlo +39 335 8245280
Donatella +39 347 4227125

Contrada Coste, 71 60039 Staffolo (AN) Italia