SINCE 1936 TO THE PRESENTHISTORY

Umberto a Mare for more than 80 years

UMBERTO & GAETANINA

It all begun in the first half of 1900, when Nonno Umberto Castellaccio e Nonna Gaetanina Mattera got married and bought a little spot of land near the small Church dedicated to Holy Maria del Soccorso: they spent 700 or 800 Lire ( more or less 25 cents of euro).
That little piece of land was made up of a tiny ruin surrounded by steep terraces overlooking the sea : there they started to build their dream. A Restaurant provided with a dancing hall – later completed with a beautiful Hotel.

THE DREAM

1936 was the beginning of the dream, but only after the Second World War Umberto a Mare started turning into what we can see today. One step at a time the dream came true. Around 1975 three of the eight descendants, Angela, Vittorio and Ottavio, took over the place management following the footsteps of their parents till 1994.

“I really don’t think heaven exists. But if it does,I would imagine it like this. On an island not too big (let’s say Ischia), in a small town (let’s say Forio) inside a building clinging to the rocks and its large rooms of white walls and large windows overlooking the sea…”

THE PRESENT

We are nothing more than the seamless continuation of that 1936 dream. The founder of our big family had already put everything on the so-called “culture of welcome” whose key ingredients were – and still are, reliability, hard work and, above all, simplicity. We feel like the designed keepers of a place that overflows with stories and history, surrounded by a breathtaking landscape.
In this regard we’d love to share the beautiful words of Roberto Gramiccia, a writer and art scholar friend who described our place in his book like this: