Meet our residents, Marco and Gianna Breschi

Meet our residents at The Somerset: Marco and Gianna Breschi.

Marco and Gianna Breschi are an Italian couple who moved into The Somerset just over three years ago. Marco was born in Florence, Italy, while Gianna is a Durban girl from an Italian family who grew up in the Queensborough area of greater Durban. Marco’s family emigrated to South Africa in 1967, and he attended Pinetown High School while Gianna attended Pinetown Convent School. The couple met through Marco’s best friend, but she had already met him through his brother’s wife, who was Gianna’s music teacher. They got married relatively young; Marco was 21, and Gianna was just 20. Marco entered the textile industry working for an Italian company, Tramatex, whose textile factory was situated in Butterworth, Transkei, an ‘independent’ Bantustan at the time. He worked there for 2 years but returned to Durban to study further, earning a degree in Textile Technology, specialising in the dying, printing, and finishing of yarns and fabrics. Four years later, the company called him back, offering him a managerial position, and he and Gianna lived in Butterworth for about 7 years until the company closed down. Interesting fact: the company’s owner, Giulio Bertrand, went on to buy Morgenster Wine Farm in Somerset West and developed it into the success it is today.

Marco was then headhunted by the giant Swiss chemical company, Ciba-Geigy, and returned to Durban. Ciba-Geigy eventually joined with Sandoz to form Novartis. The textile division was sold to an American company, Huntsman, where Marco worked for some 30 years, rising through the ranks to head the entire Southern African operation. Gianna initially worked in a secretarial position at the Panamanian Consulate in Durban and thereafter as PA to the director of Tramatex. When it came time to retire, the first thought was to go to Italy, but Gianna opposed it, and they decided to stay in South Africa. One of Gianna’s best friends lives in Somerset West, and she made an effort to visit often. They were driving through Somerset West just before the New Year 2021 and decided that the hills above Vergelegen Plein Shopping Centre looked like a nice place to live. The first estate they came across was The Somerset. “Oh, look, a retirement village, let’s have a look there”. And that’s how they arrived at The Somerset, on the 31st December, when the sales staff were all on holiday! The security guard eventually let them in and called the salesperson, Jane Martin, who showed them around.

They went back home, sold their house in a week, and moved to The Somerset 6 months later. One of the delights of living at The Somerset for them is its convenience as a lock-up-and-go, as they are ardent travellers. Marco is still working part-time, consulting to the local textile industry and marketing dyes and chemicals for a German chemical company, as well as part-time online lecturing at the Durban University of Technology (DUT).

One of his passions is fly fishing, with trout as the primary target. He ties his own flies, and the Lourensford River beats are particular favourites. Marco is an avid hiker, and because of the successful gig at The Somerset Clubhouse, ‘Vintage Dudes’ have been asked to play at their hiking group’s annual Christmas function at Erinvale. Like many retirees at The Somerset, Marco and Gianna have decided that retirement is not only about settling down but also about the freedom to do something completely different from their previous corporate lives, which, in a way, is how the Vintage Dudes was born.