This American family opened a restaurant in Italy

15.09.2023 - 16:55 / edition.cnn.com

They’d always dreamed of owning a home in Italy, but opening a restaurant there was never part of the plan.

But Dalip and Amber Tibb, who are based in North Carolina, have ended up doing both over the last few years.

The Tibbs, who’ve been married for 18 years, say their love affair with Italy began almost two decades ago, when they took a trip to Venice in 2006.

However, it would be a long while before they could seriously consider the prospect of buying a property in the country.

“It unfolded over years,” Amber, who organizes group trips to Italy, tells CNN Travel. “We had kids. Dal [a physician] ran a busy medical practice in California.

They bought a huge rundown Italian castle and transformed it into a luxury retreat

“So we had a busy life moving around. But we always kind of had the Italian dream still brewing in the background.”

The Tibbs traveled to Italy several times over the years, exploring different regions in order to find the area that would be the right fit once the time came.

They eventually settled on Umbria, which is situated near to Rome.

“We wanted to narrow it down to be close to the Rome [international] airport, because that’s where we fly in and out the most,” explains Amber.

The couple say they began seriously looking for a place in 2019, and came across a listing for a furnished three-bedroom penthouse apartment in a town called Giove in the spring of 2020.

As the global Covid-19 pandemic was in full effect by then, they were unable to travel to Italy to view the apartment beforehand.

But although they hadn’t been to Giove before, the Tibbs say they were familiar with the general area and felt confident that it would be well suited to them.

While the sale took longer than they expected, they used a real estate attorney who specializes in helping people from English-speaking countries, which made the process slightly easier.

The pair went on to purchase the apartment unseen for around 55,000 euros (about $60,500).

Dalip, who is originally from the UK but has lived in the US for nearly 30 years, was able to obtain Italian residency (the sale went through before Brexit was finalized), which would allow the family to stay in Italy for extended periods of time.

The Tibbs were finally able to view their property in June 2021, when travel restrictions relaxed, and say it was even better than they’d expected, particularly due to the incredible views.

“As soon as we arrived, I was like, ‘let me check out the view in the back,’” says Dalip. “And it has a phenomenal view of the Tiber Valley, from the back windows.

“It’s kind of a breathtaking view that no one had really talked about [before].”

The town was buzzing with activity during that first