Yearning for a Different Lifestyle

The decision to develop a lifestyle business like Appassionata was a journey, one that was as much about luck as it was about strategy.

In the early 2000s, we had reached a point in our lives where the daily routine of going to work, dropping the kids off at school, navigating the trials and tribulations of a happy but humdrum family existence, was no longer enough. 

We yearned for something different, a better balance in our lives where we could really enjoy life instead of just chasing the material dream. We also wanted more sun and less grey skies and rain. 

For 25 years I worked incredibly hard to provide a good life for my family and, in my mid-forties, was fortunate enough to have achieved a level of success where we had choices, which we decided to embrace rather than delay: One of the best decisions we ever made. 

I left behind the stress of running large, complex businesses and swapped those ventures for a more relaxed, family-driven enterprise with an Italian focus, which we hoped would provide more balance and enjoyment while we were still young enough to enjoy it. 

Don’t get me wrong, it has been hard work. Really hard work. But it was to our timescale and the beat of our drum. 

The joy of creating something without outside shareholders, investors or bank loans was such a relief. It allowed us the time and freedom to develop and grow our small boutique business to enhance our family’s lifestyle, rather than dictate it.

Falling in Love with Le Marche

In 2003, we started our journey and arrived in Italy, which was the easy part because we instantly fell in love with the place and the people. Before our visit, a good friend told me I had to visit Le Marche before I bought a place in Tuscany, as they described the area as “a truly authentic Italian region with coast and mountains, rolling hills and medieval villages, great wine and food as well as amazing people”.

That sounded like a lot of the other parts of Italy to me, but I can assure you that now, since experiencing Le Marche to the fullest, it truly has a special ingredient that you have to experience for yourself.  

It’s remarkable how often our owners comment on how Le Marche is a hidden gem and that too many people are distracted by the glamour of the iconic cities and more ‘well known’ regions of Italy. Because of this, they miss out on the many, more authentic Italian regions, where it is the people, the pace of life and the landscape that define the beauty, not the predictable travel magazine articles recommending the same ‘Top 10’ places to visit in Italy. Walk through the sunflower fields, along our sandy beaches or through wildflower mountain meadows and you will see what I mean.

The Journey of Appassionata

Creating Appassionata and the fractional ownership business took a few years. We had always developed residential property, so with our combined skills of great taste and business acumen, it was a natural step to create our version of holiday home shared ownership. 

We had thought that by purchasing run-down properties, we could intricately develop beautiful holiday homes to sell while carving out a nice existence for ourselves. Therefore, we found several old ruins to develop and we started to plan our next steps.

That’s where it got interesting. When we were discussing our ideas with holiday homeowners in the area, we found that many were disillusioned by their purchase, frustrated by how little time they got to spend in their homes and by the amount of time and money they spent on maintaining and securing them. This unsettled us as there was an obvious problem with no ready solution. But I had always enjoyed creating new solutions to old problems… So, taking on board this feedback, Appassionata was born. 

 An Introduction to Fractional Ownership

We started investigating alternative solutions and found that fractional ownership was developing in North America and could possibly provide a solution to this issue, and allow us to create a boutique family business with a real point of difference. 

Some people were typically sceptical. “That will never work”, “‘It's timeshare with a different name”, “No-one wants to share a holiday home” etc. We love a challenge so that just emboldened us and made us more determined to create something unique and special. 

We investigated everything we could about a potential business model. We travelled to San Francisco to attend a conference about fractional ownership, visited established projects in California and did as much research as possible. We used this knowledge to develop a unique hybrid model, adapted it to the European marketplace and created a residency calendar that would suit the Le Marche region. 

Appassionata in 2024

15 years later, we continue to refresh and update things as necessary as the world is constantly changing and we need to do the same. 

It always bears repeating that our business model is not timeshare. Many of our owners will attest to this: You have secure ownership of the property and have the ability to sell your share when you wish.

Since we have been in business, we have completed 6 projects, have 62 current homeowners and sold 15 resale shares on behalf of our owners. It’s been a wonderful journey, and I look forward to the next stage in our development. 

To summarise, I’ll share one of the greatest compliments I have had about Appassionata, which is that, although our business model has been copied, they can take the idea but not the experience, essence or quality of what we offer, and that’s how we put the Ahh… in Appassionata.