From the Fast Pace of Dubai to a Quiet Life in Lazio

The decoration style reflects their British roots. photo by S. Notariocomo - stefanonot.it

For nearly two decades, Karen and Andrew Stevens lived a life defined by speed and scale.

Dubai offered everything — fine dining, international travel, world-class hotels, and careers that demanded long days and constant motion. Their contemporary apartment was a hub between meetings, flights, and a social life that revolved around the city’s energy and glamour. “It was fast, glitzy, and generous,” Karen recalls. “We had access to everything.”

They always knew it was temporary — a chapter meant to last only as long as their work felt right.

Then the world stopped.

Like so many others, Covid compressed their lives into the walls of their apartment. Workdays stretched late into the night, with calls from the U.S. arriving at 11 p.m. Six days a week blurred into fourteen-hour days. Saturdays — once filled with dinners and travel — became their only pause.

More unsettling was the uncertainty. As foreigners in a country where residency is tied to employment, the question surfaced quietly at first, then more insistently: If this ends, where do we go? They no longer had a home in the UK. The future, suddenly, felt unanchored.

When they began imagining what might come next, returning “home” didn’t feel like the answer. “Once you’ve lived abroad,” Karen explains, “you realize you can live anywhere. Your options are huge.”

They explored possibilities with open curiosity — France, Costa Rica, even the idea of running a small hotel or bed and breakfast. Each option taught them something important, mostly about what they didn’t want. Eventually, their thoughts kept returning to Italy — a country that already held personal meaning for them.

They focused their search on central and southern regions and began viewing houses in earnest. Thirty viewings later, the fantasy of endless choice had dissolved into discernment. Hill towns were beautiful but empty in winter. Some homes were inaccessible, others isolated, others impractical in ways that only become clear once you imagine daily life.

Then came appointment number twenty-nine.

They arrived in Arpino on a quiet morning and sat on the stone steps near the church, waiting for the real estate agent. Neither spoke. Bells rang. Neighbours exchanged greetings. The piazza stirred gently with everyday life.

“It felt authentic,” they say. “There was real life here.”

The house they saw next wasn’t grand. At first glance, it appeared modest — but it unfolded generously over two floors. Karen stepped into the garden. Andrew wandered through the rooms, imagining what could be. When they met outside again, they didn’t need to speak.

They had found their place.

They purchased the house in 2021 and began renovations while still living in Dubai, returning every few months to check on progress. What they thought would be largely cosmetic became a slow, layered transformation — one that took time, patience, and trust. With each visit, they felt more rooted. Leaving Italy became harder than returning.

By 2024, they closed the Dubai chapter for good.

Today, Karen and Andrew live just outside Arpino, having traded business suits for gardening gloves and traffic noise for e-bikes. Their days move differently now — measured by light, weather, meals, and small accomplishments.

Their home reflects that transition. English in spirit yet unmistakably Italian, it blends terracotta floors, exposed stone, and heavy wooden doors with leather chesterfields, wing-back chairs, and a fireside nook that invites lingering. There are thoughtful surprises — an art-deco moment, a silver bar cart always ready for guests, chandeliers that catch the evening light.

But more than anything, the house holds time — time to garden, to entertain, to repair, to pause.

“The only thing life in Dubai and life in Italy have in common,” they say, smiling, “is the summer heat.”

At the heart of the kitchen, the red oven brings warmth and familiarity — a small but deliberate choice that ties together old beams, terracotta floors, and contemporary design.  photo by S. Notariocomo - stefanonot.it

Touches of red echo throughout the house, linking rooms together and bringing warmth to centuries-old stone. photo by S. Notariocomo - stefanonot.it

A space designed for slowing down — modern simplicity layered gently against the character of original stone walls. photo by S. Notariocomo - stefanonot.it

A place for long lunches and late dinners — this loggia shifts easily from open-air living to an intimate dining room as the seasons change. photo by S. Notariocomo - stefanonot.it

All photography by Stefano Notariocomo — stefanonot.it | @stefanonot.photo

Author’s Note

This story is part of a larger unpublished manuscript currently in development. Full chapters, extended interviews, and additional interiors are intentionally held back in anticipation of future publication.