In 1968, our parents Michele and Silvana moved to Bibbona from Rosignano. They bought this farmhouse and its terrain at a time when Tuscan farmers were rapidly abandoning the countryside to go and work for various industries. In fact, along the Campigliese road where our farm is situated, you'll find many families from the Le Marche and Campana.

Our last name, Esposito, clearly denotes our southern Italian heritage. In 1951, our grandfather came to Vada fromt he Benevento province with his numerous family (9 children, my father being the 4th oldest). Our mother, however, is Tuscan. She was born in Vada on one of the many farms in the area. With the absence of our grandfather during WWII, our grandmother decided to leave farm life and her in-laws behind and move to Vada where she worked as a seasonal farm hand, while renting out the farm house out to Florentine tourists.

The arrival in Bibbona was a new start for our parents because up until then they ran a small grocery store in Rosignano, and for them the change was very radical! They found themselves surrounded by 24 hectars of land, all without modern machinery to help them and 2 stalls full of livetsock.

The two previous families who ran and lived on the farm were replaced by our father and mother. At that time my sister and I were still very young and my brother wasn’t even born yet.

The whole farm was transformed due to the lack of farm machinery, which made it impossible to work the land. The terrain was splt into two rows of vineyard, a fruit orchard and rows of olive grove. The irrigation system was replaced to allow for cultivation of vegetable produce.

A new vineyard and an olive orchard with Tuscan olive varieties (Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino, and Moraiolo) were planted and the remaining crops were rotated with the raising of cattle. You'll find wheat, medicinal herbs for forage, corn and barley that we grind into flour. The left overs of the sugar beets are dried and mixed in to the livestock feed.

The Frisona milking cow is replaced by the Austrain "pezzata rossa" and the Chianina, therefore we offfer a larger variety and have a more specialized selection. The old stall, situated below the homestead didn’t have the capacity to house all the animals. So, new larger buildings were put up without feeders so that the animals could roam freely and feed about the compound.

Years have passed and the family has grown. Our grandmother is a great help to us with our 3 children. Helping our parents has aided in us to obtain precious experience that later deemed itslef very useful.

Towards the end of the 80’s a new culture was emerging... the idea was to create a new type of tourism. Agritourism. Tourism that allows for recognition of the life of Tuscan farmers, where products are created like they used to be in a natural way.This is how the idea came about to use old and abandoned habitations to receive curious vacationers interested in our way of life.We have been blessed to be so close to the seaside and the cities of art, a position that gives way to many requests. Silvana is always able to make our guests feel at home, making way for a new activity for the agricultural world. Agritourism.

Just one more year of work and finally our parents will retire or at least slow down, even though just to imagine them not working seems impossible! They have become grandparents four times over and we think that the time has arrived for them to retire.

In 1999, the farm changed hands and generations. My sister and I decided to carry on the jobs of our parents. We were again faced with the ordeal of choosing and changing the order of business according to the needs and demands of the market. Cattle raising became a problem when Mad Cow disease was recognized and we decided to drastically riduce it, replacing it with the production of extra virgin olive oil that has been given the IGP certification.

For more space we have utilized all the old stalls and wharehouses that by now have been out of use for years. There was lots of hard work done and lots of dust cleared in bringing back to life the vaulted ceilings present in each of the apartments (Sage and Bay).We salvaged everything we could of the original structure. And the old chicken and pigeon coop? Relocated, there is only an old window surrounded by brick. Lots of work! And lots of satisfaction today to see all of the work done by th entire family and to be able to benefit from it.