Meet Your Neighbors Mawi Valley – Part 1: The Story of Domenic and Sonny
At Mawi Valley, community isn’t something that happens after the villas are built — it’s something we’re shaping from day one.
In this series, Meet Your Neighbors, we introduce you to some of the people who will be sharing this peaceful valley with you.
We’re beginning with the founders of Mawi Valley themselves. Not just neighbors in the traditional sense, but the people who first walked the land, imagined what it could become, and chose Lombok not simply as a project, but as home.
They set the tone for how Mawi Valley feels: relaxed, thoughtful, connected to nature, and grounded in good energy. By getting to know them, you’ll also gain insight into the values behind the development — and the kind of community taking shape here.
So let’s meet your first neighbors: Mawi Valley founders Domenic and Sonny, who have called Lombok home since 2023.
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Can you share a little about yourselves and what life looked like before Lombok? What path led you here?
In 2011, Domenic founded a real estate company with his brother Fabian in Hamburg, Germany. For a decade they successfully developed and completed projects together. But Domenic had long dreamed of living abroad. Drawn by his passion for surfing, he eventually found his way to Lombok, where he could fully express his creativity through his innovative bamboo project, Cocoon Reserve.
During her law studies, Sonny spent as much time abroad as possible, exploring different cultures and continents. While Domenic was already commuting between Germany and Lombok, she completed her degree before the two eventually made the move to Lombok together.
Sonny put her dream of becoming a human rights lawyer on hold to help build Cocoon Reserve and support their shared vision. Soon after, their son Milo Maus was born—bringing new inspiration and marking the beginning of their long-term home: Mawi Valley.
What was it about Mawi Valley that first captured you and made you feel, “this is where we want to build our home and community”?
The unobstructed views, the vast green hills, and the nearby ocean immediately captured us. There was something incredibly peaceful about the landscape – open, wild, and untouched. With the sound of the ocean in the distance and nature all around, it felt like a place where life moves at a slower, more natural rhythm.
Standing there and looking out across the valley toward the ocean, we could easily imagine building a home and a small community that lives in harmony with the environment. From the very beginning, it felt like more than just land — it felt like a place to create a life.
There are many ways you could have approached property development in Lombok. Why did you choose to create a community rather than just sell land or villas?
Because we want to live there ourselves from the beginning, it was important for us to create a place with a peaceful atmosphere where people feel connected – not just to nature, but also to each other.
Instead of simply selling land or villas, we wanted to shape a community that shares similar values: respect for the environment, a slower pace of life, and a genuine sense of belonging. Building a community allows us to create a place where neighbors know each other and where people truly feel at home.
As your own family grows, how does that influence the kind of environment and culture you want this community to have?
As our family grows, we think more intentionally about the kind of environment we want to live in. We were deeply inspired by the Blue Zones – places where people live exceptionally long, healthy lives. In many ways, it reminds us of how our grandparents lived and how we remember parts of our childhood.
Life wasn’t rushed. There was less stress. People spent more time outdoors and with each other. Neighbors knew each other by name, and if you needed help, you simply knocked on the door.
With Mawi, we want to create a community where that kind of connection happens naturally. A place where children can run safely between homes and neighbors meet for a chat at the garden café. The plots are intentionally spacious – large enough for gardens, fruit trees, and small-scale farming, bringing homegrown food back into everyday life.
The hillside setting adds another layer. Walking up and down the terrain naturally encourages movement, making an active lifestyle part of daily life.
Architecture and nature are also very important to us We feel strongly that the environments we live in are becoming increasingly artificial. We believe people need beauty and living environments that feel alive – places with character, greenery, and spaces where life happens between the homes.
A few years from now, what do you hope Mawi Valley will be known for?
We hope Mawi will be known as a neighborhood that feels warm, natural, and inspiring. There are places where you instantly feel comfortable — whether it’s the beautiful surroundings, the friendly people, or simply a special atmosphere you can’t quite explain. Mawi is meant to be that kind of place, where people come to relax, spend time together, and enjoy being there.
Personally, we’re looking forward to the playground for our children and a peaceful spot in the shade of a tree where the wind blows and we can spend quality time as a family.
We also hope the Mawi project can serve as a model for other developers — showing that it’s not only possible, but smarter to work with nature rather than against it. When you respect the land, preserve greenery, and build in harmony with the local community, the long-term value of a project grows. In the end, it always pays off when we treat nature not as an obstacle, but as a partner.
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Domenic and Sonny’s story offers a first glimpse into the thinking behind Mawi Valley — not just how it’s being built, but why. Their focus on family, space, and a slower, healthier way of living helps set the foundation for everything that follows.
In the next part of Meet Your Neighbours, we’ll introduce Maike and Fabian, and continue building a clearer picture of the community taking shape at Mawi valley.
