Hey, new week, new letter.
And as I’m writing this from a house that’s slowly turning into the first Autofficina home, it feels like the perfect moment to finally talk about house collections.
I know what you’re thinking.
You’ve seen the movement.
The new house brands, the design-led stays, the perfectly renovated farmhouses popping up across Europe.
And something in you whispers: I could do that too bud’. I want to build something beautiful.
And trust me. I get it.
This world is magnetic.
It blends everything we love. Craft, design, story, territory, and entrepreneurship in a way few industries do.
But before you pick your first house, let me offer you a starting point:
Don’t ask what you want to build.
Ask who you want to gather (the house will come later…)
Because what’s missing right now in the STR world (Short term rental, house collection, guest houses…) is belonging.
And yes, someone will say:
Kevin, you don’t run STR houses, so why speak about this?
Because my work sits at the intersection of all of it.
I’m inside dozens of projects every year, from the first sketch to the first booking.
I see the mistakes repeat.
I see what scales and what burns out.
I see where the market is going before founders even launch.
And we run communities through places.
Sometimes the person outside the system has the clearest view of it.
THE MARKET REALITY
I like to keep this letter inspiring, but this time, let’s start with numbers coz’ the market is talking.
The STR market in France is just maturing.
After five years of wild growth, we’ve hit a moment of truth.
Good interior design isn’t enough anymore and great storytelling isn’t enough either.
The data is clear:
The problem is the map.