Restoration progress of the Vaulted Cellar

One of the beauties of our house in the South of Italy is a spectacular vaulted cellar.

Formerly used as warehouse for the storage of olive oil and handmade soap this vault is carved into the cliff below the ground floor of our house. From here, many years ago, the traders sold olive oil and soap to the merchant ships by letting down the cliff roped up baskets with the goods.

A separate entrance leads from the piazza downstairs and opens up to this long gallery with high stone ceilings. We call it our 'seminterrato' (basement).

The former storage area was in two large rooms (on the right). The storage area in the ground is still visible (not in the picture). We still think of recovering it and illuminate it below a glass top.

The gallery and the second room have doors that lead to a small garden. Here we added the two iron doors (older post).

The garden offers breath taking views as everywhere in the house.

Our architect, who is specialised in restoring old stone walls and ceilings, did a great job.

Okay, here the close observer will recognize that we have a humidity problem. This seems to origine from the outside wall that we have not touched so far. It is a stonewall on which a few wild plants grow and their roots might cause the dammage and rain water finds its way through.

I would solve this problem before the wet season starts. But it is a question of money ... to restore properly the outside wall my father-in-law calculates another few thousands of Euro ... the dammage will be minor. The walls are not even painted yet (just plastered).

This is the gallery from the other side. On the far left starts the steps that lead up to the piazza by passing by a small bathroom.

Here we are. This is one of the future bathrooms. Under the vault (on the right) will be the shower ! And the window has seaview !

Opposite the shower will be the toilet and bidet - a must in an Italian home - with a lighting on top.

Let's summarize: the vaulted cellar has a long gallery with space for a small kitchen and dining area. It has two rooms for a living area and a sleeping area. And it will have a pretty bathroom.

And ....

.... it has a small garden with spectacular sea view !

And a 'balcony' with an even more breathtaking view.

Remember the separate entrance - what do you think ?!

Isn't this an ideal guest appartment ?

For family and friends - and maybe to rent as well !?!

The 'balcony' with the renovated iron railway.

Next step:

We think about flooring. What kind of material. I would love to try concrete or Venizian terrazzo. Maybe too much 'stone' on ceiling, walls and floor ? And maybe lack of working skills. Concrete floors often have problems with cracks. What about wooden panels ? Antique oak ? Wood providea a warmer atmosphere. But humidity might be a problem, air must circulate underneath the wood. Terra cotta tiles ? Delicate sometimes. Not warm enough ?

We have time. But your input is welcome !!!

the iron doors

After having been thinking and researching and writing and posting so much about wrought iron grids and doors, I almost forgot to present the result of our iron doors for the garden access.

The two original archways are not identical. That's why the iron doors have a slightly different finish and shape.



As one can hardly oversee, our tiny garden is not ready yet.
And my little lemon tree has suffered from lack of water.


But it is doing better now.
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cancelli di ferro battuto

Another - good - result of long distance renovation:

Our iron gates, cancelli di ferro, are ready for mounting.

When I received an email this morning with the above subject and attachment, I was holding my breath until the attachement opened ... and I was so relieved when I saw it ! What a surprise!

What ? Surprise ? We had the draft of the design and agreed on it (below). Why surprise ?

WAIT - that's not the whole story.

Apparently, after we had agreed on the design, the 'artist' got inspired by my posts about iron gates (here and here). And he got a new idea. He wanted to integrate some design pattern that appears in our basement.

Maybe similar to my photo editing (below).

Okay, fine, we said. But, please send us a new drawing to make up our mind - soon.
And we waited and waited.

Yesterday, we asked again: "How about the new design?"

And here came the confusing answer:

"The gates are ready for mounting!"


"Scusi ?! What about the drawing ?! What if we do not like the design?"


The last message send out to Italy yesterday night:

"Please send photos immediately before mounting !"


So that's why, this morning, I am happy and relieved to see the gates made after the originally agreed design.

No extra pattern, no sweet curves, no flowers or hearts or "s".

What a nice surprise !

Now, let's wait how they look fixed - coming next.

Iron Furniture

Wrought iron furniture is furniture made by bending, shaping, and welding wrought iron. It has a long history, dating back to Roman times (source: wikipedia)

There is almost no French country home or Tuscan farm house without an iron bed.
I do like their romantic charm !







Other popular iron wrought furniture and accessories are chairs, tables, shelves, lamps and coat racks. Here a small selection:






Wrought iron work is predestinated for outdoor use of course. I like iron chairs in gardens, so often seen in French parks with white or green finish. And not to forget the beautiful pergolas by Unopiu which offer us shade in hot summers:






Photo source:
1) shootfactory (UK)
2), 3) Caporali (Italy)
4) shootfactory (UK)
5) unknown
6),7) Caporali
8), 9) unknown
10) Caporali
11), 12), 13) Unopiu


Address/links:
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Caporali
Enzo Caporali, Santa Mama, 110 Arezzo Italia +39 0575 487033
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Unopiu
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shootfactory
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mixed wrought iron works and some before and after pics

Even if I risk to bore you with my posts about wrought iron, I need to post one more time about that subject. I need to summarize for us what we have at our Italian home so far. There are a lot of different designs, but also patterns that are repeated. Above an older sketch of mine and below some pictures:

BEFORE : my favorite - in the appartment for guests.


AFTER : this rail needed to be higher for saftey reasons. The craftsman repeated the "S" style that we have allover the house. (I liked it right away when I saw this picture for the first time. But in comparison with the old before picture I realised the modification and would have prefered it more simple. - And the windows, inside white outside brown is another subject... Yeah, I am difficult, sorry. I should not complain with such a view!!!)


BEFORE : the facade and its windows and balconies with different wrought iron before the renovation


AFTER : the facade after renovation (with colored plaster) - the balcony rails are painted black and the windows got new iron grids which repeat elements of the arch over the main entrance and the "S" from two of the balconies.

Better details in the next pictures:





BEFORE and AFTER : renovation in progress, the old rail on the left was replaced by the rail on the right (already by the pre-owner)


The new rail is not only used for the balcony in the first floor (piano terra) but also for the garden floor (semiinterrato) where we will have the appartment for our guests (small left picture).



This is another tiny seaside balcony. I have no information about its renovation, wheather it is just painted black or if it was adjusted to the other balconies
by adding
some "S" like these ...
... to become
like this:




On the inside of the house we do have iron stairways railing, again with some "S" design






On the left is the craftman's drawing, the proposal for our garden doors. And we decided to do it that way and not as I have posted before.
No scrolls, no "S". Just classic and save.