We were living in Sydney, where we met, and planning our wedding in Lake Como, where Ludovico grew up, during one of the most defining seasons of our lives. At the same time, Kaila had temporarily returned to Vermont to be with her family while her mother underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Planning our wedding across three continents wasn't something we'd ever imagined. Somewhere between the late-night phone calls, impossible logistics, and bringing family and friends together from around the world, we discovered something unexpected: our skills complemented one another, and we genuinely loved creating meaningful experiences together.

Just two months after our wedding, we lost Kaila's mother. Together, those two life-changing moments completely changed our trajectory.

We realised that life doesn't always wait for the "right time." If we were going to build something together, the time was now.

While still living and working in Sydney, we spent nearly every spare moment researching central Italy and making repeated trips to view properties. Although we explored both Umbria and parts of Tuscany, we kept coming back to Umbria. We saw extraordinary untapped potential in a region that offered everything we loved about Italy—remarkable food and wine, rich history, breathtaking landscapes, exceptional craftsmanship, and a slower pace of life—yet remained wonderfully authentic and largely undiscovered by international travellers. We knew this was where we wanted to build Vero.

After visiting more than fifty properties, we found Poggio Belvedere.

Two years after our wedding, we left behind established careers in Australia and, in the middle of the global pandemic, packed up our lives and moved to Umbria.

Everything we've created since—from Poggio Belvedere to every experience we curate—has been shaped by one simple idea: to create the kind of Italian experience we'd want ourselves.