Agriturismo CZ

Jo and I moved to Orvieto in 2019 to follow our dream of living and working in Italy. Our first and most important task was to restore this old Podere with its 16 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms back to its original glory. With our new found passion for the outdoors and our six hectares of young olive trees we soon embraced our new task of Olive farming and so Casale Zeno came to life as an agriturismo and Olive farm. Most of our sales of Olive oil are sold direct to guests who stay with us all year round.

Over the last six years we have had hundreds of helpers from many platforms and for us it's not just about the help we enjoy the pleasure of having people around sharing lunch and building new relationships. The property is situated in Viceno around 12km from Orvieto and although it's in the countryside we do offer cycles to get around and there are several local villages within walking distance. The work can be hard especially if we are in the field but most of the time it's rewarding seeing the changes you are part of. Depending on how busy we are there is also cleaning apartments and basic DIY. After we finish at lunchtime, the day is your own and obviously the season varies so in summer you can chill by the pool or read on the balcony, other times of the year you can take the bikes and explore.
Normally we would only take 2 people in the apartment but on occasions we have taken 3 friends and it worked ok. Couples and friends seem to work well although we have solo travellers all the time.

Jo and I live and work in the main farmhouse with our trusted black labrador Jack which no doubt you will get to know well from the morning walks. Having completed the main renovation which was 3 apartments, Casa Isla, Casa Eva and Casa Lila all named after Tony’s granddaughters, we also converted an accessible room named Angelo Rose. We are super proud of our relationship we have had over time with our world packers and helpers from all platforms and the very fact we offer a safe space for everyone.

No two days are the same, work is varied and can range from strimming to planting to looking after olive trees, feeding the hens and collecting eggs, log splitting, clearing land and apartment cleaning. In summer the pool needs daily cleaning and If the weather is bad we also have inside jobs like furniture restoration, cooking and painting. The main language is English although we do have an understanding of Italian.
We expect 5-6 hours per day although most of the time it's less, depending a lot on the weather. Generally Tony will prepare lunch and sometimes he cooks in the evening but you do need to be prepared to make your own food for breakfast and dinner