A Private Heritage Atelier
Roots by Vera — a private heritage atelier for bespoke genealogical research. Your story began
long before you.
We reconstruct forgotten family histories — the journeys, migrations and quiet lives your family has carried for generations. Every commission is assembled with archival craftsmanship, and made to be inherited.
“Every generation leaves a whisper.”
The Atelier · Vera
You inherited more
than your surname.
You inherited a story.
This is not the collecting of names and dates. It is ancestral reconstruction — the recovering of lives time almost erased, the understanding of migrations, the reconnecting of families with generations they never had the chance to know.
Vera works in the manner of a private archivist: bespoke genealogical research across Europe and Latin America, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French. She reads where records were kept — parish books, civil registries, military archives, immigration ledgers and private collections — pairing a historian's methodology with AI-assisted organisation. The interpretation, always, remains human.
Each family archive is treated with the care a museum reserves for its own collection: catalogued, sourced, and assembled so it may be handed on intact.
"Some stories disappear only because no one asks."
- International archives
- Six working languages
- Archival craftsmanship
- AI-assisted organisation
- Bespoke commissions
- Academic methodology
Commissions
Not products. Commissions.
Seven ways to entrust a family history to the atelier — from a single record recovered in a provincial archive, to an archival reconstruction across generations and borders, a bound family volume, and carefully curated heritage journeys to the places your ancestors once called home.
Every commission begins with a personal conversation. No two family histories are alike, and so each proposal is individually prepared: the scope of the private research, the methodology, the archival sources to be consulted, the timeline and the quotation are defined together before any work begins. Nothing is ever bought automatically.
Every enquiry is personally reviewed by Vera before the research strategy, quotation, timeline and payment schedule are agreed together.
Each commission is accepted selectively, to ensure the time, discretion and historical rigour every family deserves.
The First Discovery
A first, carefully framed look into your family story.
- Up to 5 hours of professional genealogical work
- Review of the information and documents you provide
- Focused archival and historical research
- Source and evidence analysis
- A first family line, built where the evidence supports it
- Records and source references found along the way
- Discovery Report — findings, sources consulted, unresolved questions and next steps
Payment schedule
100% before the work begins, once your enquiry has been personally reviewed and the commission accepted.
The Family Legacy
The signature Roots by Vera commission.
- Up to 12 hours of professional genealogical work
- Multi-generational research
- International archival research where relevant
- Migration history where the evidence supports it
- Historical and geographical context
- Analysis and correlation of original records
- Family timeline and digital family tree
- Premium Family Legacy Report — what was known, what was examined, what was recovered, the evidence, unanswered questions, and where the story could go next
Payment schedule
50% before the work begins. 50% once the agreed scope has been completed, before delivery of the final dossier — due upon completion of the agreed professional work, not upon a particular discovery.
Deep Roots
An extended reconstruction across branches, borders and generations.
- Up to 25 hours of professional genealogical work
- Multiple family lines where appropriate
- Multi-country research where required
- Migration reconstruction
- Historical and geographical context
- Analysis of complex or conflicting evidence
- Digital family tree, historical timeline and relevant maps
- Archival records and source documentation
- Premium Deep Roots Dossier — conclusions and recommended directions for future work
Payment schedule
40% before the work begins. 30% at an agreed milestone. 30% after completion of the agreed scope, before delivery of the final dossier.
Archive Search
One name, one moment, one record — recovered or accounted for.
- Up to 2 hours of professional genealogical work
- Focused archival work within a defined place and period
- Birth, marriage, death, parish, immigration, census or other specific record
- The relevant document or source if located, with its citation
- Brief written summary
- If the record cannot be located: sources consulted, name variants examined, a documented conclusion and recommended next steps
Payment schedule
100% before the work begins, after personal review and acceptance of the enquiry.
Citizenship by Descent Research
Bespoke archival work in support of descent documentation.
- Review of known ancestry and relevant lineage
- Review of existing documentation
- Identification of missing genealogical evidence
- Relevant jurisdictions and archives
- Initial assessment of the further genealogical research that may be required
- A separate research proposal may follow if additional work is needed
- Genealogical and archival research only — not legal advice, and no eligibility or outcome is guaranteed
Payment schedule
100% before the Preliminary Assessment begins, after personal review.
The Legacy Book
An editorial heirloom, bound to be inherited.
- Editorial concept and family narrative
- Family tree and historical timeline
- Maps, family photographs and historical documents
- Archival material
- Professional visual design
- Print-ready family book
- For families whose history has been reconstructed by the atelier, or who hold sufficiently documented material
- Printing and physical production quoted separately by format, page count, materials and copies
Payment schedule
50% before editorial and design work begins. 50% before approval and release of the final production files.
Walk in Their Footsteps
A carefully curated journey to the places your ancestors once called home.
- Ancestral villages, towns and historic addresses
- Churches, cemeteries, archives and museums
- Family-relevant locations and historical walking routes
- Historical and cultural context
- A private heritage itinerary drawn from documented family history
- Transportation, accommodation, local guides, admissions and third-party services quoted separately
Payment schedule
Agreed individually as part of the confirmed scope.
Continue the Story
Sometimes one discovery opens the door to another.
- 5 further hours of professional work€375
- 10 further hours of professional work€700
Extensions are offered only to families already in the atelier, when a promising new line emerges beyond the agreed scope — and never without your word first.
How atelier hours are allocated
Each commission is described as up to a number of hours of professional genealogical work. Those hours are the craft itself, given wholly to your family legacy project, and may include:
- Archival research
- Database research
- Source analysis
- Document review
- Evidence correlation
- Historical context research
- Family tree construction
- Documentation
- Report preparation
- Research conclusions and recommendations
A note on archival craftsmanship
No two family histories are alike. Historical records may be incomplete, dispersed, contradictory, or may simply not have survived the century they were written in. For this reason, particular discoveries can never be promised. What is commissioned is the craft itself — the private research, the archival sources consulted, the analysis and the documentary evidence assembled within the agreed scope. Whatever the archives hold, you receive a considered account of what was examined, what the evidence reveals, and where your story could lead next.
“History isn't only written in books. It's written in families.”
The Atelier Process
Seven unhurried steps.
One private commission.
Choose Your Commission
Read the seven commissions and choose the one closest to what you would like reconstructed.
Tell Us Your Story
Complete the private enquiry. If you arrived from a particular commission, it is already noted for you.
Personal Review
Vera reads every enquiry herself — the objective, the material available and the likely scope. Your chosen commission is an initial preference, not a commitment; if another would serve your family better, she will say so before any payment is requested.
Scope Confirmation
You receive the proposed scope, commission, price, deliverables and payment structure in writing. Nothing begins until the scope has been agreed.
Secure Payment
Once the commission has been accepted and confirmed, you receive separate secure payment instructions.
The Work Begins
Archival work begins once the required initial payment is received.
Your Legacy, Delivered
At completion you receive the agreed dossier, documentation and evidence — assembled to be kept, and to be inherited.
The Atelier Standard
The hand of a private archivist, not a database.
Where We Work
Where your archives are kept, we go.
The Private Archive
Objects that outlive us.
Documents, maps and photographs handled as a museum handles its own holdings — catalogued with care, and returned to the family they belong to.
“The past isn't behind you. It lives within you.”
In Their Words
Families we have quietly accompanied.
Vera returned my grandfather to us — his village, his ship, the shape of his years. It was not a report. It was a homecoming.
Discreet, meticulous, quietly beautiful. The bound volume now sits in our library beside my grandmother's photographs.
She traced four generations across three countries in languages I do not speak. I finally understand where we come from.
Considered Questions
Everything you may wish to know.
Most commissions unfold over three to nine months, depending on scope, the languages involved and the condition of the archives. A precise timeline accompanies your written proposal.
Yes. Cross-border archival work in six languages is at the heart of the atelier — spanning Europe and Latin America.
Of course. Many commissions are given to parents, grandparents or the next generation. Private gift certificates are available on request.
Not at all. Many families begin with only a name and a country. We build from what you hold — or from what time has left.
Yes. Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Uruguayan and Argentine lineage reconstruction is available, with certified sourcing where required.
Discretion is absolute. Every commission is handled personally, under a strict privacy protocol, and no material is ever shared without your consent.
Discretion
Your family's story deserves
absolute discretion.
Every enquiry, family story and historical document entrusted to Roots by Vera is treated with the highest level of care, professionalism and confidentiality.
Heritage commissions involve deeply personal family information spanning multiple generations. For that reason, privacy is not simply a legal obligation — it is one of our core values.
Roots by Vera processes personal information responsibly and in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Your information is never sold, never shared without your consent and never used for purposes unrelated to your family legacy project.
Read the Privacy Policy →Confidentiality
Our Commitment
to Confidentiality
A family history is one of the most personal things a person can share. These are the principles the atelier works by — quietly, on every commission.
Every commission remains private
Your commission is never used as an example, never published and never referenced without your written permission.
Every document remains confidential
Certificates, photographs and letters you share are kept apart from anything publicly accessible, and used only for your commission — handled as a museum handles a loan.
Only authorised processing
Access is limited to those working on your commission. Where an archive or local record agent must be contacted, only the minimum information required is shared.
Processed only for the agreed commission
Your information supports the scope you confirmed — nothing else. It is never sold or repurposed.
Findings belong to you
The records, reports and family lines uncovered are delivered for you and for the generations who come after you.
Commission Privately
Let us reconstruct
your family's story.
Every commission begins with a private conversation. Share what you already hold — or where the story falls silent — and Vera will reply personally.
You carry stories
you've never been told.
Perhaps they've been waiting for you all along.