About The AiA
A family business, a family history.
Our Story
In Giulia’s words
Me and Puglia go way back. All the way back to the beginning, in fact. Though I was born and raised in New York City, for my whole life summer meant Salento. Meant cugini (cousins) and Nonna’s villa in the seaside town of Santa Catarina; meant daily dips in the Ionian Sea and afternoon visits to famiglia. Meant slow, sun-baked days and incredible fresh food. It meant having to be quiet during post lunch siesta time as we waited for the adults to awake.
For 30+ years, I went back and forth between my two worlds. Flying to New York at the end of summer was going home. But so was returning to Salento.
Eventually I felt a pull to come home to Puglia for good. Now a mother, I wanted to give my daughter Franci the kind of summers that helped make me who I am. So, in December 2015, I bought another ticket to Puglia—this time, one-way.
After a few months living in Lecce, an opportunity presented itself: I heard about the Aia of Spiridione, a sandstone pink villa owned by an old family friend, being put on the market. I remembered visiting the Aia as a child. Now I had a vision of turning the property into an agriturismo—an Italian hospitality option combining agriculture and tourism. A farm stay where visitors could enjoy food made with love from ingredients cultivated on the property.
Soon, my vision became reality. The sale went through, and I moved in on a hot June day with the smell of sun-roasted olives permeating the air. I couldn’t quite believe it. I was a city girl who suddenly had 17 acres to tend to. Guests to look after. A business to run. I had no choice but to figure it all out—so I did.
6 years later, the thing I love the most about the Aia is that it has turned into a homey farm stay where guests come together from across Europe and around the world, connecting through themed experience weeks or simply around the breakfast table. It’s a place where people try new things, make new friends, experience new flavours and certainly new wine.
For me, it’s both something new, and a return to my roots. I’m delighted to get to share some of the best parts of my cherished Salento summers not only with my growing family, but with my guests.
And, it turns out, Salento is something special in the other seasons too.
Welcome to the Aia.