Some stories start with a plan. Ours began with a love affair—with the mountains that seem to dive straight into a lake, with the scent of fresh pasta from a kitchen whose door is always open, with a country you can never fully get to know and that, for exactly that reason, stays with you. That’s how we, Kim and Sander, ended up in Northern Italy. 

We’re not people who sit still. Kim (41) has worked for over 17 years as a Freelance Creative Director and has a knack for knowing what works and what doesn’t. Sander (58) has a company in the construction sector in the Netherlands, now handed over to one of his sons, and knows better than anyone what it means to build something from the ground up. Living and working across borders is nothing new for us: we’ve previously lived in Scandinavia and have become accustomed to a life without national borders as a limitation. Italy, however, is the place that truly stole our hearts. The culture, the history, the incredible diversity of nature, the food, the wines... it’s simply richer here.

Together we have two children and a Bernedoodle who has no idea how lucky he is to have mountains and lakes as his backyard. 

That love for Italy and our entrepreneurial spirit came together when we discovered Yala. The lodges immediately matched our view on travel and living: pure, beautifully made, and without fuss. That we are now a dealer for Italy doesn’t feel like a new career step, but rather a logical continuation of what we’ve been doing for years—making beautiful things visible in the place where they belong. We make sure that here in Italy, you can’t miss Yala. With just as much passion as we ourselves fell for this country.