Ripostena is the outcome of a daydream my father Alberto, born in 1940, had one cold November day in 1989. After viewing a number of properties throughout the province in search of a country home where his family could spend their leisure time, he came across Ripostena: an abandoned hilltop hamlet. The hilltops rose out of the fine mist of this autumn day like little islands, and my father fell in love, beginning a love story that lasted more than 30 years! But my own first visit to Ripostena was rather traumatic. Only 10 years old, standing immobile on a rock, surrounded by a vast expanse of ruins and mud, I couldn’t see what this place had to do with the splendours my father had described to us. But he had a vision of the enormous potential of this place, only temporarily lying dormant. This marked the beginning of a major restoration project that took six years, working year-round, summer and winter, without pause. A painstaking restoration with a view to preserving the rural spirit of the place, using authentic materials and skilled local craftspeople. At first it was a real challenge to find some of the materials required for the project, but my father didn’t give up. He searched through abandoned old farmhouses for stone, wooden beams, washbasins, and various bits and pieces whose use I could not comprehend at the time, bringing them back to life. My father was in love with the place, but my mother didn’t always agree, as she was aware of the scale of the project and the amount of time and money it would take. But there was nothing she could do: the process had begun, and it was unstoppable. After her initial reluctance, she too embraced the project with all the determination and farsightedness typical of the authentic spirit of her homeland, the Veneto. My father handed down his love of Ripostena to me, leaving me a place that has seen two or three generations grow up, and grow old. Ripostena has now become a part of our family’s history, telling the stories of all the families that have stopped here, whether for a single night or for a number of weeks, coming back over the years.