Stories

What lies behind the pictures

Every picture has a place, and every place has a story. Here I tell what I found there, how it came about and what becomes of these places. Sometimes that is history and facts, sometimes legends, sometimes my own experiences on the way: a single house, a journey, a landscape, a whole country.

Aerial view of Podere Il Cerro in the hills above Castell'Arquato, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

New story

Places · Italy

Podere Il Cerro: A magical place among friends moves into the hills

Reading Retreats in Rural Italy, the association of my friend Clark Lawrence, has existed since 1996: a house in the countryside where art, music, books, guests from all over the world and legendary parties come together. In the summer of 2026 it moved to a former horse ranch above Castell'Arquato. I was there with the drone, in the middle of the move and before the renovation.

10. November 2026

Library with a vaulted ceiling in an abandoned villa in Italy

Themes · Italy

Why do so many villas in Italy stand empty?

Frescoes under collapsed ceilings, libraries full of dust, drawing rooms where nobody has sat for decades. Few countries have as many abandoned manor houses as Italy. The reasons lie in inheritance law, in rural flight and in a heritage system that protects without helping.

10. November 2026

Moorish-style peacock hall with polychrome ceiling decoration in Castello di Sammezzano, Tuscany, Italy

Places · Italy

Castello di Sammezzano: The Moorish castle in Tuscany a marquis built for himself alone

A palace out of the Arabian Nights among the vineyards near Florence, built over 36 years to the designs of one man, empty since 1990. The story of a place that followed no model, and what becomes of it now.

10. November 2026