Residence Launch
Established staffing, systems and operating standards for a newly acquired European residence.
SELECTED ENGAGEMENTS
Experience,
demonstrated.
Representative assignments delivered for private principals and family offices. Identifying details are withheld or generalized to preserve confidentiality.
THE ENGAGEMENT
When clients call us
Catalina is typically engaged when a residence is being acquired or launched, when standards have declined, during a major construction or rehabilitation project, or when household leadership and staffing require restructuring. Engagements may be project-based, transitional, fractional or ongoing. Every assignment is handled in complete confidence.
Operational Recovery
Rebuilt leadership, vendor accountability and maintenance standards at an underperforming private estate.
Owner Representation
Directed owner-side coordination through a major residential construction and transition project.
REPRESENTATIVE WORK
Selected projects
Real engagements, presented without client names, precise addresses or identifying financial information. Project imagery is representative. Where identifiable photography is used, it appears with the owner’s permission.
01ROME
ROME · HERITAGE RESTORATION AND SYSTEMS MODERNIZATION
A Seventeenth-Century Palazzo, Reimagined
A private client acquired a Roman palazzo dating from the seventeenth century and appointed Catalina to direct its restoration and complete technical modernization. The mandate required close coordination with architects, specialist conservators, local artisans and the Soprintendenza responsible for protecting the building’s historic fabric.
Original marble, travertine and mosaic surfaces were carefully conserved and restored. Historic plaster walls were recreated using period-appropriate lime-plaster techniques, while surviving architectural details were repaired rather than replaced wherever possible.
Behind the restored interiors, the residence was comprehensively modernized. New climate-control systems with HEPA filtration, electrical and plumbing infrastructure, security, lighting and smart-home technology were discreetly integrated without compromising the original structure or visual character of the palazzo.
The result was a fully modern private residence that retained the material integrity, proportions and atmosphere of its seventeenth-century origins.
02MONACO
MONACO · OPERATIONAL TRANSITION AND MODERNIZATION
A Legacy Villa, Prepared for the Next Generation
When the next generation assumed stewardship of a historic Monaco residence, they inherited a property that had changed little in three decades. Previously occupied for only a few weeks each year, the villa remained dependent on longstanding staffing arrangements and operating practices that could not support the new owners’ plans for a technologically advanced, wellness-focused home.
Catalina was appointed as Interim Estate Manager to create the operational reset required for the transformation. We navigated Monaco’s employment and regulatory requirements, managed an orderly transition from the legacy household team and maintained oversight of the property throughout construction.
Working alongside the project team, we directed the operational integration of advanced home automation, modern security infrastructure and a private subterranean wellness suite. In parallel, Catalina recruited a new hospitality-led estate team, established clear responsibilities and reporting lines, and developed bespoke operating procedures for the residence.
Following extensive training and a structured handover, the villa became a fully functioning year-round family home rather than a property left vacant for most of the year. The management framework developed in Monaco was subsequently adopted as the operating model for the family’s wider international residential portfolio.
03MALLORCA
MALLORCA · ESTATE REHABILITATION AND TURNKEY LAUNCH
A Neglected Finca, Returned to Life
After more than a decade of limited care, a traditional Mallorcan finca and its surrounding agricultural land required comprehensive recovery. Catalina was engaged to renovate the residence, restore the estate’s productive landscape and establish the team and operating systems required for dependable year-round management.
The renovation of the house progressed alongside the rehabilitation of several hundred neglected olive trees. The groves were returned to productive cultivation and the estate’s olive-oil production re-established. New stables and supporting facilities were also constructed for the family’s ponies, integrating their daily care into the wider operation of the property.
In parallel, Catalina recruited a complete household and estate team, established responsibilities and reporting lines, and provided practical training before the family’s arrival. Detailed standard operating procedures and estate manuals were developed to govern the residence, maintenance, grounds, olive production and equestrian facilities.
Within eight months, the neglected finca had become a fully staffed and operational family estate: the residence renovated, the olive groves productive, the ponies accommodated and the systems required for long-term care documented and in place. The property was delivered turnkey and ready for immediate occupancy.
04NEW YORK CITY
MANHATTAN PENTHOUSE · SPECIAL PROJECT DELIVERY
Monolithic Belgian Bluestone Bath
A Manhattan penthouse required a single-piece bath carved from Belgian bluestone. Catalina secured a four-ton block directly from a Belgian quarry, appointed a specialist stone workshop to mill and hand-polish it over four weeks, and managed its custom crating and transatlantic transport to New York. The finished bath weighed just under two tons.
The building’s freight elevator could not accommodate the load, leaving only one viable route into the residence: through the air. Catalina coordinated the street-closure permit, structural engineers, a custom steel gantry cantilevered from the penthouse and a Sunday crane lift carried out by a six-person rigging team.
Because the existing floor could not support the combined weight of the bath and its water, the joists were reinforced and welded steel plate installed to distribute the load. The lift was completed on Sunday; by Tuesday, the bath was set and secured.
Building water pressure would have required approximately twenty-five minutes to fill it. Catalina obtained the necessary approvals and installed a dedicated high-capacity pump selected for quiet operation—delivering a practical fill time without compromising the tranquillity of the residence.
PRIVATE ENQUIRY
Every residence presents a different operational challenge.
Discuss an acquisition, launch, transition or operational concern in complete confidence.
CONTACT US