In 2005, during our search for a special place to start an agriturismo, we stumbled upon an old wine farm in Piedmont, and the decision was quickly made. The house was in a beautiful location, with views over the village of Cartosio and the valley of the Erro River. It came with 8 hectares of land, providing enough space for our dream of starting a campsite with luxurious, fully equipped tents, nowadays called “Glamping.”

Our dream initially focused on Glamping, but the property was so large that we immediately decided to also create a few apartments, so that the whole would become a small holiday resort where guests can enjoy a wonderfully relaxing vacation in a natural environment, but with the necessary luxuries!

It’s now 2020, and I feel so fortunate as I walk around Casa Bontà and see how everything looks. So much has been renovated and changed over all these years. We never had the intention to change everything, as we wanted the property to maintain its authenticity. Casa Uataré, as the house is still called by the people from our village of Cartosio, had been vacant for almost 10 years when we bought it and was in very poor condition, so we had to renovate and adapt a lot, but the old character of the property has absolutely been preserved.

People who have known us for a while know that, before we ended up in Italy, we spent a few years in France searching for a suitable property and land to start a regular campsite. In 2004, while in France, we went on a short vacation to a campsite where they had just begun renting out furnished tents. It was such a delight, after a long car journey, to arrive at this campsite and not have to set up a tent ourselves. The tent had no bathroom, not even running water, but it did have electricity, a small kitchen, and, most importantly, made-up beds! After that week of vacation, we were so enthusiastic about this form of camping that we became convinced it could change the future of camping. It was a surprise for us as well because now, for our own plan, we could search for a different type of land, as the safari tents would be placed on wooden platforms.

In the spring of 2005, after a visit to the second home fair, we unexpectedly flew to Milan for our search and never thought we would find our dream home so quickly in the beautiful, yet still unknown, Piedmont!

The next step was to apply for a permit, but we were almost immediately told by the local authorities that they didn’t want a camping in this area. Together with our real estate agent and surveyor, we tried to explain that we didn’t want to open a regular campsite, but rather build a maximum of 8 large luxury tents on platforms. In the end, it took 1 ½ years before we got the permit, but then we could finally start with our plan and purchase the tents.

Buying tents at that time wasn’t so easy, as there weren’t any suppliers yet, except for a small company that imported army tents from Pakistan.

After getting in touch with them, we were invited to come and view the tents. Upon arrival, it turned out there was no showroom; the tents were stored in a large warehouse. However, if we wanted to see the tent, we were allowed (and able) to set it up ourselves. That afternoon, together with another couple who had a similar plan but for Portugal, we set up the tent. Initially, we tried in the yard, but when it became clear the tent didn’t fit there, we moved to the field and set up the test tent among the cows. We were so enthusiastic about the tent that we immediately bought two. We figured out how to build the platforms ourselves, and I started scouring antique markets for linen cupboards and other items for the interior. What a great time that was! Nowadays, when I go to the antique market, Guus already starts to feel anxious, afraid I’ll buy even more “old” things that we don’t really need anymore, but it’s still so much fun, and there’s always something that can be replaced!

When we started in 2008, we began with two luxury furnished tents equipped with running water, gas, and electricity. Our guests were pleasantly surprised by this way of camping, especially by the fact that a tent was already set up upon arrival and the charming outdoor kitchen. Additionally, behind our house, we had a beautiful sanitary building with toilets and spacious showers.
At the time, there were no other Glampings in Italy yet.

We decided to purchase additional large tents, and by 2009 we had five tents, seven tents in 2010, and eight tents by 2012.

In 2013, we started replacing the first two old safari tents. By then, a Dutch company had become fully specialized in “glamping tents”, and Glamping was becoming a quite well-known concept.

We decided to install toilets in the new tents. I still remember how, in March, Guus began digging trenches for the sewage system with his excavator and spontaneously decided to install toilets in the older tents as well. It was quite a shock to see our entire lawn torn up in March, with trenches leading to all the tents. It looked terrible, and I had little faith that everything would be ready before the start of the season. But the plumber arrived on time, and nature had the chance to recover, so by the time the May holidays arrived, the lawn looked beautiful again, and we were able to surprise our new guests with the unexpected addition of a toilet in the safari tent.

In 2019, we came up with the idea to add showers to the tents, and we planned to start with the three upper tents in the spring of 2020. After a family discussion, we decided that instead of installing showers inside the tents, we would build wooden outdoor showers next to the tents. After all, what could be better than showering in the open air?

In the spring of 2020, COVID-19 took hold of the entire world. Our guests had never had issues with our safari tents not having showers, but now we noticed that the demand for them was higher than usual. So, we spontaneously decided to build a shower for each tent.

Our carpenter had time, the wood was quickly bought, and we got to work painting the planks. Phew… painting is really a hobby of mine, but Guus and I spent days painting, and I couldn’t stand the sight of another green plank. Thankfully, a good friend came to help finish the painting, and all the planks were transported to the upper tents by Piaggio to begin construction. Then, our carpenter fell ill, and it looked like we wouldn’t be able to finish the showers. Since I hadn’t promised individual showers to anyone except for a few guests, we sadly decided to bring the painted wood back to the shed, and the project was postponed until the fall.

But … in mid-June, Stijn and Laurene came to help us for the summer months, and it just so happened that Stijn was skilled at working with wood. Yes, 1+1=2 … In just two weeks, Stijn and Laurene built four outdoor showers, which meant that the three showers in our sanitary building were now reserved for the other four tents and were less used.

Last fall, they built the other four showers, so this season all guests staying in the safari tents can enjoy their own outdoor shower with hot water. What a wonderful prospect! After all these years of running Casa Bontá, we still love investing in changes and improvements. And it’s always a joy to see our guests enjoying them!

Best regards,
Silvia