I remember the moment when the last approval came through, after a long and challenging purchasing process. Finally, we could be sure—the place would be ours, and with that certainty, something new was about to begin, unstoppable and full of promise…
It all started before COVID, when we were expecting our youngest daughter, Johanna. Our dear friend, Antal Gábor, called us one day to tell us about a hidden gem he’d found—but he warned us, it would take a lot of work. He thought of us because he knew us well, and he was spot on! Just two days later, we went to check it out, and we were immediately enchanted. He was right: this place was truly magical. Even then, we could see that there was so much to do here—enough work to keep us busy for years, perhaps even decades.
It was love at first sight. The vibe of the place, the atmosphere, the surrounding area. How it stood isolated, away from everything else. Surrounded by the hills of the ancient volcanic mountains. It felt as though nothing else existed but nature and us. It was as if we were becoming one with it: the past and the present, intertwined. There was no pretense, no desire to be something else, just as it was, whole and perfect in its simplicity. We fell in love, irrevocably. All the way home, we couldn’t stop thinking: how could we make this ours? We hadn’t planned on buying a property yet! Maybe someday, when we got older. But here it was, right now. We didn’t have savings, but this place spoke to us in a way we couldn’t ignore. We ran through all the possible options and realized we could sell Andris’s downtown office, and with that, buy the 3.5-hectare estate at the foot of Mount Csobánc in the Balaton Highlands.
And we were so excited, filled with questions: What would happen next? How would this change us, and everything around us? What would this estate hold for us, and for others? How could we preserve this courage, this strength that pushed us to take the first step on this new path?
We trusted that the next steps would unfold in their own time, and we would find our way…