Hey There

We're Peter and Kathleen — and this is the story of how two Belgians fell in love with a country, and ended up running a B&B between the vineyards of Dogliani.

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We met nineteen years ago in Belgium, on a day neither of us remembers as anything special. Funny how that works. Peter had just finished his studies in industrial chemistry and was working as a chemical process operator; Kathleen had graduated as an interior architect and was building her own practice. Different worlds, same wavelength. We fell in love, built a life together in Maaseik, and after all those years finally married in the summer of 2023 — barefoot, sun on our faces, surrounded by the people we love most.

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Our careers grew alongside us. Peter eventually swapped the factory floor for the classroom, training the next generation of operators — he likes to say it suits him better, because he gets to talk all day. Kathleen turned her love for design into her own practice as an interior building consultant, working with clients across Belgium.

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But somewhere along the way, something else took root.

We discovered Italy slowly, the way you should. Long days outside on trails and gravel roads, calves burning, lungs full of warm air. Evenings on shaded terraces with a glass of Dolcetto and a plate of something we couldn't pronounce yet. The kind of tiredness that feels earned. The kind of meals that turn into long conversations.

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The more we came back, the harder it was to leave. And one day we admitted what we'd been thinking for a while: this isn't just a holiday. This is home.

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So we made the leap. We left the rat race behind, packed up Belgium, and turned an old house in Dogliani into Casa Alba Blu. It wasn't always easy — building something from scratch in a country whose language we were still learning, where the bureaucracy is its own kind of art form. But every morning, the sun comes up over the vineyards, and we remember why we did it.

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These days, our life looks like this: We are up early, making breakfast, planning what to suggest to today's guests, probably already thinking about what wine to open later. Kathleen is the one shaping the spaces — every room, every corner, every small detail of the house carries her hand. Our days are full, but they're ours.

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What we offer is simple: the Italy we fell in love with, served with warm hospitality and a little bit of our story woven in.

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We can't wait to welcome you.

 

Peter & Kathleen