Abruzzo is the area of Italy where our old stone 'rustico' is.BTW the building opposite is not that house! It's a beautiful example of an Earth house for which the area around Serramonacesca, Roccamontepiano and Casalincontrada is well known . More about 'Terra Cruda' later!
We've been slowly ( very slowly ) restoring the house since 2005 and have certainly had our ups and downs .From dodgy builders to hopeless plumbers we've certainly been there , done that and got the t-shirt!
Through the various Internet forums I belong too and a UK Period Property Forum I've met and corresponded with many other like-minded people and have received a wealth of advice and information. I'd like to use my blog to share this with you !
Anyway that's it for now .The dog wants a walk but I'll be back later!
a presto!
Here again - dog walked and reasonably contented. That's the dog and not me! We have been having a hellish time of it this year mainly because some work that we had done on the house has proved to be defective and unless we want to spend years in the courts and all of our meagre supply of money it looks like we are going to have to get someone else to sort it out.
I've been contributing to this forum and letting off steam ! Sometimes it helps to know someone else is in the same boat - in our case I think its called Titanic!
It's not all bad and it helps to remind ourselves about whats so wonderful about Abruzzo.This photo was taken in April just above the house.I think I counted over 100 orchids around just 1 tree . The grass was so green because Abruzzo had experienced its wettest winter for 200 years.We already knew that by the state of our kitchen!Yes that's water that's run along the lane beside the house and is making its way into the walls.
I'm going to tell you all about it in my next blog but I'll just mention now that we are restoring the house using very un-modern methods ! Certainly methods unheard of by Italians we know!
We are taking away the cement in our house and re plastering with lime plaster .
Lime is a breathable material that is not damaging to the environment in the way that cement is. We have had some experience of working with lime in the UK but we are definitely on a steep learning curve out in Abruzzo.
Since we began working on the house we have noticed that our local builder's merchants in Scarfa stock 'BIO CALCE' a pre-mixed lime based plaster .It makes us feel less alone! But I wonder if its being stocked because lots of builders are involved with repairing churches and other historic buildings and this is approved by the Belle Arte people ?
We had lots of cement to remove from the house and we did most of the work by hand.
Thank goodness as some of the stones had these intricate carved letters and symbols on the going back to the middle ages. You can see here where damage has already occured through cement rendering of a whole area.The limestone has suffered a long split.
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