We are a family with an ‘international’ outlook, but with our roots firmly planted in this local area, which we love and wish to promote and protect. We both work in the field of EU funding and, in slightly different ways, we deal with ‘sustainability’: Lisa focuses more on environmental issues, with a strong research element, whilst Alberto focuses more on social issues, with an emphasis on impact assessment. We enjoy connecting with and building relationships with people from other countries and cultures, as they bring ‘enrichment’ through their knowledge and help us to better understand what is happening in the world. We have a daughter who loves travelling, football and drawing, and is passionate about manga and good food.
Above all, however, we love the ‘Zavrelian’ approach to local development: we travel primarily to connect with communities, to discover different cultures and traditions, to learn something, and to leave a positive mark on the places that welcome us, with the utmost respect – and the least possible impact – on nature and people.
For these reasons, Ca’ Sverio is a ‘near-zero impact’ accommodation: it consumes the energy it produces, offers guests the chance to get around in the most eco-friendly way possible (bicycles, e-bikes and electric car charging), and was built without any land take, by restoring an existing historic building and saving it from disrepair.
All that remains is for us to wish you a pleasant stay!
We chose this name in memory of Lisa’s grandfather, Pizzol Bortolo, known as ‘Sverio’, whose family were the original owners of the property. In those days, of course, the building was not ‘just a barn’ but served as the Sverio family’s main home, heated by the fire and the warmth of the animals. As evidence of this, shown here alongside, you can see a Napoleonic-era map from the early 1800s in which the building is already visible and recorded.
In the mid-20th century, a second house was built in the immediate vicinity, which later became the Sverio family’s new residence and is now our home. Unfortunately, precisely for this reason, the old barn was ‘downgraded’ to the mere function of a stable and suffered a slow but progressive decline. In the early decades of the 20th century, the building was in fact used as a refuge and shelter for partisans during the two World Wars, and in 1976 it suffered the effects of the terrible earthquake that struck the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region and, to some extent, parts of eastern Veneto as well, causing it to crack and tilt.
When we moved here in 2010, we immediately thought how lovely it would be to ‘restore’ the old barn, and finally, in 2024, we succeeded, thanks in part to funding from the PNRR and the opportunity provided by the REVIVAL Project, which was funded by the Municipality of Sarmede through the Borghi Call for Proposals. We thus set up our tourism business and began the renovation work. During the project, we wanted to preserve the traces that have characterised the barn’s history over time: evidence of this can be seen, on the outside, in the red bricks interspersed amongst the original stonework, and, on the inside, in the tie-rods that had been installed to support the perimeter walls. You might not notice it, but you should know that the walls of the building are not perpendicular to one another – much to the delight of those who helped us restore this historic property!
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