From London to San Vito di Cadore
We’re Laura and Andrea, both born and raised in Italy. We’ve lived in London for over ten years.
A few years ago, we began to feel the pull of home and wanted a more tangible connection with our roots. In Serdes, a small village in San Vito di Cadore, we had the opportunity to restore Andrea’s grandparents’ house. We began the restoration in 2025, and we’re now ready to welcome you. For us, this is the first step in a project we hope to grow over time, eventually bringing us back here to live.
We still live in London, but this house keeps us firmly rooted in the Dolomites.
Opening it to guests is our way of sharing what we love about this place: the extraordinary mountains, the forests and the simple pleasure of being here without always having something planned.
The mountains
Andrea
"I grew up in San Vito and I am a ski instructor at Scuola Sci Cortina. I know these mountains well: which slopes to choose, where to find the best snow and which trails are worth heading out for".
A love of mountains and wine
Laura
"I love the mountains, but having grown up among vineyards, I have always been drawn to the world of wine too. I hold a WSET Level 2 qualification and I am always happy to recommend local wines, along with a few favourites discovered further afield".
Ciasa de Tone de chi de Tòful
The house has been in our family for generations. It appears on an archival map dated 1836, although its origins are thought to reach back to the previous century.
“De chi de Tòful” is our family’s soranome: a traditional nickname passed down through the generations. In San Vito, where many families share the same surnames, these names helped distinguish one branch of a family from another. Even today, they speak of belonging and of a lasting connection to the village and its community.
The house is known as Ciasa de Tone de chi de Tòful, after Andrea’s great-grandfather, Antonio: “Tone” in the local dialect.
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1836
The earliest documented record
The house appears on an archival map, recording its place in the village as early as the first half of the nineteenth century.
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Early 1900s
Tone in the United States
Tone emigrates to the United States, where he works as a carpenter. Like many people from these mountains, he leaves in search of new opportunities before deciding to return to San Vito.
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1917–1918
Returning home and serving in the war
After returning to Italy in 1917, Tone serves in the 317a Compagnia Boscaioli, a military forestry company, during the final year of the First World War. This house will then be his home for more than fifty years.
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Today
A new chapter for the house
Restored in keeping with its historic and architectural protections, the house opens its doors to guests as Dolomites Escapes.
Restoring the house, preserving its story
The house stands in an area protected by the Venice heritage authority. The restoration therefore preserved its exterior, including the traditional window designs with their slender glazing bars.
Inside, we rediscovered the craftsmanship of earlier generations: stone walls that are remarkably thick at the base and gradually narrow towards the upper floors, ingenious uses of timber and the traces of so much hard work and sacrifice.
We salvaged everything we could from the old attic: some of the beams, the timber boards that now line the walls, and several original window fittings, all dating back at least two hundred years. Today, these materials have found a new home in the stua of our top-floor duplex and in the wall panelling of two of its bedrooms. Even the small opening overlooking the stua retains one of the original attic shutters.
The stua was, and still is, the heart of an Alpine home: a warm room where people gather. Recreating it with the original timber has allowed us to keep a tangible connection with the house as it once was.
We chose to leave the marks of time visible: the uneven grain of the wood, the traces of craftsmanship and everyday use. They are part of the story of the house and the people who lived here.
"This is where Dolomites Escapes began: with our wish to give this house a future, preserve what makes it special and share it with those who choose to spend a few days in our mountains".
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