Here, Francesco Petrarca, who initially came for the spa treatments in the nearby area of ​​Abano, decided to stop and build the house where he spent the last years of his life. The bond between the great humanist and poet and the city was so strong that in 1868 it was decided to add Petrarca to the name of Arquà in his memory.

Among the medieval alleys and houses with typical bare stone facades, Donatella Brunello also found her buen retiro where she could dedicate herself to her passions, the art of the table and party decoration, after a life spent with her husband at the helm of the interior design company True Design, now run by her children.

Arquà Petrarca is a magical town that invites you to stop, where I found the ideal place to give life to my dream: to create special tables and decorations for memorable parties.

(Donatella Brunello)

She fell in love with a romantic stone house, located right next to the historic Post Office of the town, which she completely restored, giving life in 2022 to her dream location: a multifunctional space where she organizes any type of event, from 2 to 30 people.

Quella Casa ad Arquà is composed of two floors, a kitchen with professional equipment, two living rooms, three dining rooms, an internal courtyard and a garden.

Each room has been decorated by Donatella with designer furniture from the family company True Design and unique objects, such as exclusive handcrafted pieces created for the home, collections of ceramics, antique porcelain, and rural objects that have found new life here.

Donatella and her team will be able to plan any kind of dream event according to your wishes, from a dinner for two to a wedding, from a cooking school to any type of team building and photo shooting.

For the cuisine, Donatella relies on top collaborations, including with starred chefs, who interpret the raw materials and seasonal ingredients found at local suppliers. Her “signatures” are the Perle del Petrarca, or recipes inspired by the poet and his great passion for vegetable gardens.

Among the most loved ones, we find the ravioli pasta with nettles and white ragout prepared with farmyard meats, butter, pink pepper and lovage, the famous jujube broth, or the focaccia with sourdough and almond flour stuffed with vegetables.

In fact, at the back of the house, Donatella cultivates her “secret garden”: a vegetable garden of wonders that hosts more than 50 native aromatic species, including rare ones, such as Ruta Patavina, various types of thyme and basil, and many almost “forgotten” plants such as Erba Miseria, Erba Luigia, Zinnias, and Snapdragons.

Here too, Donatella organizes wonderful bucolic tables, especially in spring when the pergola is tinged with a thousand colors.

Certainly, one of the most magical places in Veneto.

The Secret

Donatella follows a philosophy of life that she has also transmitted to her home: without a clock, with time marked only by the sound of the bell tower and the doors always open to let in those seeking emotions or information on her wonderful garden and the village of Arquà Petrarca.

Info utili

Quella Casa ad Arquà
Via Fontana 14
35032 Arquà Petrarca, Padova
Tel. +39 335 8327671‬

Home restaurant: a partire da 50 euro, bevande escluse, minimo 2 persone e massimo 30.

Affitto location: 1.000 euro al giorno (incluso uso cucina e stoviglie). Il team di Quella Casa ad Arquà organizza eventi ad hoc con chef, musica e fotografo personalizzati in base al brief del cliente.

Per il calendario aggiornato di cene e degustazioni consigliamo di seguire la pagina Instagram @quellacasaadarqua.