Since the late 1990s we, Rob Landeweerd and Jeroen Macco (both of Dutch nationality), have developed a passion for Italy in all its senses: good food, fashion, its mountains, hills and sea landscapes, its art and culture and above all, great friendly people. We have travelled through the entire country from North to South and found our home in the so called “green heart”, Umbria. We enjoy offering good food and hospitality, making people feel at home, whether in the company of our families and good old friends or with new acquaintances and people from our business network.
In 2006 we decided to buy a property in Umbria. In the end we chose for having our own property constructed just on the border with Tuscany, not far from Lake Trasimeno. Building our own house, we discovered ourselves how important it is to be aware of all the various aspects of constructing property in Italy: knowing the Italian way of doing business, speaking the language and keeping as much as possible the focus on adhering to deadlines and results. But, most importantly, in undertaking a project like this we experienced so much fun! We realised to have found a unique opportunity: combining the international business experience built in our professional careers with our passion for all the beautiful things Italy has to offer.
In 2008 we decided to get involved in the estate business (property and project management services) for clients who have their second home in Umbria and need assistance in every single detail. Since then we built a large number of exclusive villas and apartments for our clients, all different in style from the mainstream. Properties that can be called each and every single one of them: 'SPECIAL'. In 2009 we have added an extra service to our activities with this website: Renting out exclusively beautiful villas, apartments and country houses. Luxury places to stay in Umbria...in all senses. In 2012 we expanded our activities with Sales on the SpecialUmbria website: a fine selection of only the most special places for sale in Umbria. For this we are offering our clients only the most special places where in fact we would like to live ourselves. Every single property has something really special and needs to fit within our own personal criteria.
We have known personally how difficult and stressful it can sometimes be when you are not on the building location yourself to keep an eye on the progress and to instruct the people to build according to your wishes. And since buying, building, restoring and having your own property abroad must be an exciting, energy-creating activity, we are available with our team to make this dream come true for clients from all over the world.
And why do we like to do this? Because we are enthusiastic of the unique combination among the progress of our own building project, being regularly in Italy and enjoying the fun from our former positions: offering high quality services and working with people from all over the world.
