Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Dave and Jenny Marrs take their friends up on a chance to renovate grand Italian villa
For Dave and Jenny Marrs, renovating a home in Italy has always been a dream. The HGTV stars who live and work in Bentonville got the opportunity to do just that when their friends Rebecca and Pierre invested their life savings into a property in the Tuscan countryside.
The couples met and became friends several years ago when Dave and Jenny took their first trip to Italy as newlyweds. So when Rebecca and Pierre asked them to shepherd restoration of a grand villa and help them make it into a vacation rental for tourists, their answer was an enthusiastic “yes!”
The Marrs’ resulting spinoff series, “Fixer to Fabulous: Italiano,” debuted March 12 on HGTV. The six-episode season documents the Marrs’ monumental restoration of a centuries-old property in the rolling hillsides and leafy olive groves of Italy.
Dave and Jenny Marrs spoke with the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette by phone just a few days before the series debuted.
When did the original idea for this show “Fixer to Fabulous: Italiano” begin?
Jenny: Rebecca and Pierre had been looking for a house, and they would send me links to ones they were interested in. I’d tell them ‘OK, this would work’ and give them ideas. When they landed on Campo Sasso, they bought it. We visited last summer (to see the) house, and we all sort of brainstormed how to make it what they wanted it to be.
We had dinner on their terrace and decided ‘Let’s do this for a show.’ We called our production company and took video of the house. We explained our thinking and did the prework around it, to figure out if it would be feasible.
There were permits they had to get that took months (to secure) and then we went out in November of 2022 with our production company to figure out how we can get it (shot).
What were your impressions of Campo Sasso?
Jenny: The house was beautiful. It was just a matter of making it work for what they wanted to do. We just had to modify it, adding a kitchen basically, but it had a great foundation.
What all went into it that didn’t have to happen for your other shows?
Dave: Literally everything. The language, the permit process. Historical preservation over there (is intense). I love it — that’s why so many Americans go there, to see Italy as it’s always been and the way it’s seen in pictures. But there was a lot to work around and (balance) what our friends wanted and what the show needed to have that transformation.
I’m wondering how you navigated renovations in a foreign country, such as the scene in which you’re told that a certain building permit won’t be available for months. Was that a genuine surprise?
Dave: Yes, the permit was a big shock to us. The production company and the network wanted (the series) as soon as they could get it. We thought it was something we would have completed in July and to not have a permit until three or four months after we started the process, (well, that) set everything back. For the show’s schedule we had to travel back and forth, it was a big setback. … We had to sometimes just adjust expectations and work around the new requirements.
As far as speaking Italian throughout the project, it seems to me that you had no formal interpreters. How did you navigate that language barrier?
Jenny: We worked with Sofia (one of the architect’s assistants), but she was not always there.
Dave: Our Italian was not great, but when they slowed down for us, we could (understand). We started with the basics. Sometimes I had the perfect saying worked out (for) how to begin a scene and start the day with the contractors and then I would blow it. My brother came and helped us. When I introduced him, I thought I was saying, ‘This is my brother,” and I actually said, “(This is) my son.”
In the first episode, Rebecca says “We have no idea what to do with the stables.” Where does your mind go when a homeowner says something like that — are you excited or nervous? Do you have ideas right away?
Jenny: It was an exciting new challenge; we love old world style. For us it was exciting. Sometimes you go into a project and don’t have a lot of ideas, (but in this case) we quickly had a lot of ideas. It was inspiring
and as far as beginning and planning, it came about seamlessly.
Dave: It is exciting to plan and design, but at the same time, with no expectation or ideas, it can be hard to figure out a budget and costs. There are so many expensive, amazing things out there, but to manage within the timing and budget a beautiful look that you want is a collaborative effort with Jenny and I and Rebecca and Pierre and the architect and contractor and the on-site local construction crew day-to-day. To go through all the different categories of this idea and how to execute it.
How did you go about customizing a space for a cheese aging cellar? That seems like a unique project.
Dave: I know farming and construction, but (when it comes to) aging cheese I had no idea, so I leaned on Pierre.
Pierre grew up in France. His family has (aged) bleu cheese for generations. (That level of tradition is) one of the amazing things about getting to work in Italy — a lot of the craftsmen are the seventh, eighth generation of doing this. Wine and cheese is really (Rebecca and Pierre’s) experience. We really leaned on their expertise.
The important part was to get the right atmosphere, to get the right equipment that gives humidity and what’s needed to successfully age cheese. (It included) the infrastructure with stainless steel, to seal everything off, and structure to support shelving. Then flooring and brick to get the right humidity
Jenny, on the design side, told us ‘I want it to look like XYZ’ and then it comes down to collaboration. We leaned on their knowledge for what you need for a cheese cellar, and it was such a learning experience. That’s the great part.
How many trips did you make over there in the process?
Jenny: That was one of the biggest challenges. We traveled to the site in Italy six times over the course of a year. The longest we stayed was one month during the summer with our kids. The other times were about a week (each). The kids were at home (while) in school and not with us, and also we still had our projects here (in Northwest Arkansas), so we could only go about a week (at a time). The last trip was two weeks.
Although we had communication with Sofia and she was there a lot, they were not there as much as we would have been. Working through them was very different than how we normally would do.
We worked with the homeowners back home a lot, pretty much a constant back and forth with photos and emails and communication. And then when we arrived, we had to reassess, ‘Where are we?’ and ‘What didn’t happen that was supposed to?’
I appreciate that the show does the Euro to dollar conversion for you. Something else I loved was that you can totally work with people around the world because of FaceTime! How does that technology change the nature of your work?
Dave: It quite literally enables us to do it. We were in contact every day or every other day. It’s a seven hour time difference. So what they’ve done, they gave us recaps. When it’s 4 or 5 p.m. there, it’s mid-morning here, and even though you’re working half a day behind, you’re still able to keep in contact and (know) what’s coming up.
Without the technology, I don’t know that we would have attempted it, because these are real life people, our friends who are putting a lot of money into their business and life savings into a dream they have.
We were able to bring some of our farm experience and our experience with the Welcome Inn, a place that people come and stay. They put a lot of trust in our knowledge, that we could get it done and executed. We (like) to be (on the site of a project) every day and if not, be there with someone walking on FaceTime or something to check up (on it). If you’re not there for a month, it can go drastically in one direction that’s not the vision. It was a huge help.
When it comes to Campo Sasso, what are you most proud of ?
Jenny: Just that we did it. We went in with more questions than answers and finished the project to create a beautiful space for our friends. That was an amazing, satisfying feeling. We plan to go back and experience and stay in the home and enjoy it ourselves. That and I think the fact we did a huge project of something we always wanted to do. I’ve always loved Italy and both the book and the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” are my very favorites.
Oh really? I thought the old man in that movie supervising the renovation was a lot like the slow, casual pace that you encountered in real life.
Dave: They did a great job (in that movie) because there are so many similarities to the contractors and the ones who are on that movie. They work hard, but the way they do it are the old ways. It’s not what we (Americans) would think is the most efficient, but the end product is high quality.