Piero and Jeanette Nardi –

How we know him – Piero and Jeanette are our downstairs neighbors. They have lived here for over thirty years and are the only other people that live at the castle other than us! Trey and Olivia met them first on the elevator when we first moved in. They were so excited to tell us that they speak English and are REALLY nice!

What they do – The Nardi’s were the founders of Sia a chain of stores throughout Italy and other countries in Europe. The stores specialize in household decorative items. They sold the company many years ago but still run the business to this day.

Our Friendship – Its funny, Anna and I lived in Moorpark for four years and have lived in our house in Thousand Oaks now for ten, and we have developed a closer relationship with the Nardis in nine months than any of our previous California neighbors! I’m not sure we could have gotten any luckier than to have them as our neighbors.

Jeanette is originally from New York, while Piero is a native of Florence. The two of them met many years ago and have lived in Florence ever since. Jeanette still maintains all the charm of a native New Yorker however, which is probably why I like her so much. If its not Piero bringing us a bottle of his homemade olive oil, its Jeanette stopping by with some books for me to read that will help us get adjusted to life in Italy.

I guess we have never really made an effort to get to know our neighbors in California and having an actual friendship with the people that live next to you has been quite a treat. I will miss the days when Jeanette stops by for no other reason but to just say hi!

Interesting Quip – Jeanette and Piero have three sons who all spent their childhood at the castle. One of their three grandchildren is a three year old little girl named Olivia! For this reason, they call “Our” Olivia, “Olivia Grande” and their grand daughter “Olivia Picola”.