January 2011
Bookings are now being taken, and hopefully now I new have a stable computer to work on we can update the site a bit... it's been a while.
December 2008
Bookings are now being taken for 2009. We're also offering an "Early-Bird Discount" - Book on or before 1 February 2009 to receive 10% reduction for the complete travel period (only when reserving for at least 7 days).
January 2008
Happy New Year!
Well, after lots of family and friend visits to test-run the guest apartment, we're finally ready this year to let it out properly. So if you'd like to book please do so here.
The text in the website has become a little out of date, so a lot has been updated to provide a more accurate description of the finished property. If you spot any mistakes please let us know.
The galleries have now been updated to shorter, easier to manage sections, and the local information section now has some pictures and information on the local safari park and funfair, "Fasanoland", which is just over 10 minutes from the house if you take the steep route.
August 2007
The pool is finished! Water finally went in on the 31st of July and it has recently been enjoyed by our daughter Anouska and four of her friends, who were visiting for a week.
The galleries have been updated a little - mostly pictures of work on the pool but also some of the work being done to the main entrance at the front of the house. So everything is in the garden gallery here. New pictures are June (picture 29) onwards.
Other than that you may notice that I've still not got around to reorganising the website. I'm on Italian building schedule so it will be done tomorrow! :)
June 2007
Most galleries have just been updated, so new pictures have been added, mainly to the guest, exterior and garden sections covering March, April, May and June.
The guest apartment is now finished so be sure to check the finished results here.
Work has finally begun properly on the pool as can be seen here. The builders have assured us it will be ready for the end of the first week of July. So having learned from previous estimates lets take a guess at mid August.
I have also updated the local area galleries and information. So you can now find more pictures of Castellano Grotte, and Matera and new information and pictures for Alberobello.
As a final note, it has not escaped me that the galleries are getting a bit long and difficult to navigate now, to say the least. After this update the galleries will be broken into more manageable sections somehow. Yet to work out the fine details of how and when though.
April 2007
Galleries are all updated now (captions included this time). There are new pictures of the garden and exterior from September, and updates in most sections from October, November and December.
There are also some new pictures in the local area section of the gallery, some of Roman ruins at Egnazia and some pictures taken on the beach on Christmas day.
Now I've finally finished sorting out this last batch there will probably be a memory card with another 500 photos to sift through arriving any day now! So I'm off to tape up the letter box for some rest. :-)
April 2007
I've FINALLY managed to update the gallery a little. There are lots of new pictures (October November and December) of the guest side to look at for now. I'll update other sections as I find the time.
January 2007
Happy new year! Things are progressing well and we hope to have the guest side up and running for this summer. Looking good so far. So BOOKINGS ARE NOW BEING TAKEN from July 1st onwards.
The gallery will hopefully be updated in the next week or so with some new pictures taken between October and now, especially of the progress on the guest accommodation.
October 2006
Apologies to everyone who has been looking for updates. There have been two updates due for a while now, but here's a short version...
May - Moved in!!!
August - Had visitors, got dogs, sort of got cats.
and a longer version...
Things have been a little hectic all round. Sue is now living/camping in Comara, Klaus is still living and working in Germany and the kids (Illya, Nicholas and Anouska) are now living in Prestwood, not far from the old house.
In the gallery there are now some more pictures. Firstly of the state of things in May as we moved in, expect lots of boxes. But as you'll see from these the house looks almost finished inside. Secondly of things mostly unpacked but far from finally organised. These are from August when Anouska and Klaus came over for the summer holidays. This is also when our dogs (Teegan and Kai) finally got to move in, and a stray cat started turning up for barbeque leftovers. Only later did we find that some of these were going to her kitten.
Also in August we took a little drive to Matera, where the crucifiction scene for 'The Passion of the Christ' was filmed. Pictures can be found here.
Anyway, the latest news is that all is going well. The carpenter is due to start work any day on the kitchen and other finishing jobs in the house. Meanwhile Pisani, the builder, has the go-ahead for the swimming pool so work can begin on that and/or the guest accommodation. Hopefully the next update won't take so long.
Sorry again for the delay in updating.
April 2006
We've finally made it over, and as you can see in the gallery things have progressed brilliantly. We even managed to camp in the house for a couple of nights thanks to the newly installed modern wonders that are... electricity and running water.
The kitchen's still to be done but everything else is nearing completion. Which is just as well because we've finally sold up in the UK and the kids are fed up with us cluttering up their new lounge by sleeping in it.
Our furniture will be arriving mid May so hopefully we'll be able to update the site again with some furnished, finished(ish) photos.
Thanks to the sale of our house in the UK we can now go ahead with knocking down and rebuilding the guest side of the house. We've also (planning permitting) got to the stage of building the swimming the pool, so hopefully work on all this will start soon.
March 2006
Well, it's been a while. The November trip never happened and actually we haven't been over even now. We have however been sent some photos taken by Maurizio of how things are going.
Our trip over has mainly been delayed by problems with the house sale in the UK, but as in Italy things are now progressing... slowly.
October 2005
Just back from a visit. No lights yet, but electrics are coming along. Radiator placement is all looking good too.
We're very impressed with the work done since our last visit. All the wiring and plumbing are in place, and even some phone sockets. Everything's just waiting for us to pick out fittings. We've ordered tiles and suites for the bathrooms so they should be easier to identify in the next batch of photos.
Windows, doors and shutters are all being made at the moment, so again in the next lot of photos we should have a more finished-looking exterior.
The kitchen/dining area and lounge ceilings are fantastic. The builder has done "barrel ceilings" for us, see the gallery and all will become clear. Don't know what they look like from the top though.
Looking forward to our next trip in November to see how things are going.
September 2005
We've just had some good news from Etta. The builders have had a flurry of activity and finished all the roofs. Not only that, but the plumbing and heating are almost done (though we're a little worried about radiator placement), and work is likely to start on the electrics in the next week or so.
We'll be over for a visit at the end of the month so stay tuned for the verdict on the radiators and news as to whether or not we have lights. Fingers crossed!
July 2005
Things aren't going quite so well this time. The builders are now behind schedule and things have not changed a great deal since our last visit. The few changes there are can be seen in the gallery.
The roof of the lounge has been removed and lowered and the kitchen knocked through to the 'pizza room'. So the house is temorarily lighter and hotter but unfortunately work is not moving as swiftly as we had hoped.
Etta is threatening to strangle the builders so hopefully she will have them working harder by next visit. Failing that if Etta has her way they may make good hardcore.
June 2005
Just back from a brief visit to pay the builders.
So far work seems to be on schedule. The trulli roofs have been restored, the property has been cleared out and stripped back to the original stonework, and the stone floors have been temporarily removed and digging begun. Pictures are in the gallery again some of the captions give more details about what's being done.
Electricity is due to be connected any time now... hopefully.
In the meantime Alberto has been hard at work in the garden with some serious clearing and pruning. By cutting back the olives severely now he should double the yield in future.
April 2005
Slight change of plan... the building work will now be done in two stages. Firstly the main house, and then, when our home in England sells, work can begin on the second stage, the guest accommodation, and the swimming pool can be put in.
We've just been informed that the builders are on site and the first stage of building work has begun. So IF all goes to plan the main house will be finished by November.
March 2005
Just back from another visit... SNOW!!!
The house looks much the same as before but now all the trees are bare it's a bit easier to see. The pictures have been added to the gallery.
October 2004
We have arranged for the land to be looked after by a local farmer, Alberto, who will save us a lot of work, keep the land tidy and productive, and supply us with our own olive oil.
Masseria Comara
Welcome!
Masseria Comara is a three-Trulli property on the outskirts of the hillside village of Santa Lucia in Puglia, Southern Italy.
It offers self-catering family accommodation for up to 6 people, including a private patio and use of a swimming pool. Or if you prefer the beach, the Adriatic coast is approximately ten minutes away by car.
This site also offers some advice on where to go and what to see in the area. The nicest beaches, the local caves, the best local restaurants, and whatever else we find. To view some of the local attractions please look in the "local information" section by clicking here.
The gallery section contains photographs of the house and local area and for anyone interested a look at what the house used to look like and it's journey through the rennovation process.
The Story So Far...
Masseria Comara was purchased, after occasional dramas, on the 29th of September 2004 by Klaus and Sue Derigs.
The original property is approximately 200 years old, with subsequent extensions, and sits on 1.2 hectares of cultivated land, with approximately 200 olive trees, 70 cherry trees, 3 walnut trees, 2 fig trees and other fruit trees.
At this point, as can be seen the gallery, the property itself was basically a wreck...
Work needed included restoration of the trulli roofs and most stonework, part-demolition and rebuilding of the guest accommodation, removal and later re-laying of the stone floors (in order to dig down and give more head-room to pass through the low doorways), and even re-connection to water, and electricity supplies. In short everything but the basic stone structure needed pulling out and starting again. All in all this building/restoration work was expected to take seven months... two and a half years later the finishing touches were still being applied.
So that's the back-story. See the news section in the next column for the latest developments...