Restoring a Home in Italy
- Book Review,
by Elizabeth Minchilli, Simon McBride (Photographer)
From Publishers Weekly
Three November titles from Artisan explore the pleasures of home and table at the most exalted levels. Elizabeth Minchilli provides both practical information (e.g., many local boards have imposed bans on new swimming pools) and reason to dream in the beautifully photographed Restoring a Home in Italy. The 22 featured residences include a compound of conical houses, called trulli, in Puglia, and a former candle factory in Rome, as well as plenty of traditional villas. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Outstanding in terms of both production and subject matter, this is a coffee-table book for the ages. Dividing the text into five geographical sections, Minchilli, who has restored an Italian home herself and written several books on Italian art and culture, considers the various challenges encountered while restoring an old house. She presents problems of site, structure, and design along with the chosen solutions. The lucid text is illustrated by 180 large and magnificent photographs by McBride, whose work has appeared in such publications as Architectural Digest, House & Garden, and Country Living. A seaside home in Liguria, a rooftop apartment in Rome, a farmhouse with loggia near Siena, a convent in Lombardy, and a watchtower in Tuscany are just some of the restoration projects described. Not a bad consolation prize for those of us who will never restore an old house in Italy, this volume is strongly recommended for travel, art, home improvement, architecture, and preservation collections. It is also recommended for anyone with a passion for all things Italian. Alex Hartmann, INFOPHILE, Skokie, IL Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
It may seem that finding a quality American contractor who shows up on time and doesn't overcharge is difficult, so the thought of embarking on renovations in a different country would seem out of bounds. Yet 22 homeowners, some native, some not, revel in their refinished homes all over the countryside and cities of Italy. A few, like author Minchilli, were fortunate to have an architect or similar professionals in the family. Others faced almost insurmountable barriers, such as restoring a Venetian attic, a project that must also calculate the amount of materials, occurrence of tides, and other elements that factor into sites only accessible by water. All photographs show the "after" of construction, although the authors do indicate some challenges faced by homeowners. Even more critical are sidebars that cover the necessities of remodeling: fees of real estate agents, notaries, and surveyors; permits (as to be expected, every town, village, and city differs); gardens; and antiques fairs, among other topics. A surefire cure for anyone dreaming of a home abroad. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
This breathtakingly photographed volume offers an inside, and outside, look at twenty-two lovingly restored homes, labors of love by people whose passion for Italy just couldn't be ignored. Owners and designers share anecdotes about their experiences with local artisans, vendors, and bureaucracy, while offering real-world advice on the tactics of restoring a house in a foreign country. Whether the plan is to embark on a complete redesign, begin a restoration, or just move in and let the house evolve on its own, home owners and dreamers alike will value the information and thrill to the dream of Restoring a Home in Italy. This is a book at once lush and beautiful, and invaluably practical.
From the Inside Flap
"There's no downside, " I say firmly. "The waterfall of problems...the financial worriers, the language barriers, the hot water in the toilet, the layers of gunk on the beams - there is nothing compared to the absolute joy..." (Frances Mayes on restoring a villa, in Under the Tuscan Sun) A PASSION FOR ALL THINGS ITALIAN Can lead you down the most unexpected paths. Like finding yourself a home owner in Italy, for example - though "home" may be a misnomer for many of the original structures that pass for habitable dwellings; rubble, cave, farmhouse in tragic ruin would be more apt descriptions. But for the twenty-two home owners profiled in Restoring a Home in Italy, courage, commitment, patience, and an ability to imagine the future allowed them to transform these pieces of the past into magical places to live today. In evocative text and lush photographs, author Elizabeth Minchilli and photographer Simon McBride let us in on the beauty and charm of these homes throughout the country: hillside houses in Puglia, farmhouses in Tuscany and Umbria, attics in Venice, apartments in Rome, even former convents and caves. And though this is about Italy, where it is said there are no rules except what guides your heart, there are some obstacles along the way. Undertaking and expensive project in a foreign language, with a foreign bureaucracy and mountains of regulations - not to mention an alien sense of time - requires solid information an down-to-earth advice, all of which are here as well, as owners and designers explore the nuts and bolts of turning that crumbling set of walls into a warm, inviting home. A list of sources and terms will complete any would-be home owner's education. So if you're seriously contemplating renovating your dream home in Italy, or are content just dreaming of it, Restoring a Home in Italy is the perfect guide.
From the Back Cover
Owning and restoring a home abroad is one of life's most enduring daydreams. Here are twenty-two real-life "restoration dramas" with very happy endings.
About the Author
Elizabeth Helman Minchilli's passion for Italy led her from her native United States, where she studied architectural history, to Italy in 1987. She writes on art, architecture, and food for a variety of publications and is the author of three books on Italian culture. She lives in Rome and Todi, Umbria, with her husband, Domenico, an architect, and their two children. Simon McBride's photographs of gardens and interiors have appeared in more than twenty books and in such magazines as Architectural Digest, House & Garden, and Country Living. He lives in Bath, England
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION My love affair with Italy has deep roots. No, my ancestors weren't Italian. My introduction to Italian life came about much more abruptly. After passing a fairly uneventful first twelve years of my life in St. Louis, Missouri, I came back from summer camp one August to find that my parents had rented out our house, sold their business, and were in the process of packing us up to move to Rome, which they had visited for the very first time while I was away. Despite the initial trepidation any twelve-year-old would feel, it didn't take me long to settle into the Italian way of life. We moved into an ancient palazzo in the city's historic center, and I was allowed to wander the city on my own, such was the safety of Rome at the time. Maybe it was the sudden freedom I was given. Maybe it was that I was at such an impressionable age. Whatever the reason, it added up to my forming a lasting love affair with all things Italian. After two years in Rome, and traveling the country on family holidays, we moved back to the United States. Although we continued to come back for vacations, I was always trying to devise a more permanent solution: a summer studying Italian in Florence, two years living in a Florentine attic while researching my dissertation on Renaissance gardens in the archives at the Uffizi. I felt truly at home only within the sights, smells, and welcoming embrace of Italy. Finally, my appointment with destiny came in the form of love-of course. I met my husband, Domenico, an Italian architect, and settled for good in the country where I knew I belonged. As an architectural historian, I studied buildings and gardens, and I saw my share of Medici villas and papal estates. I worked in the archives, pouring over dusty lists and inventories, plans and drawings, reconstructing palatial residences from centuries before in my mind. The work Domenico was doing - restoring abandoned farmhouses and bringing them lovingly back to life-was something completely new for me. I have to admit that my eyes had never lingered on the crumbling farmhouses that dotted the countryside. If they weren't on my historic or academic itinerary, I hadn't considered them one way or another. That was all to change, of course, as I began to take an interest in Domenico's projects. Eventually, I became intimately familiar with the language of restoration. My Italian is fluent today, but when it comes to vocabulary I feel much more comfortable talking about beams and plaster than, say, hemlines or the latest movie. I learned pretty early on that there are as many reasons, or even rationalizations, for turning ruins into homes as there are home owners. Most people have very romantic and emotional explanations: a love affair with the light or the way of life in Italy, a desire to sink down roots in a country that has a history stretching back thousands of years. Some people want to make wine, others want to escape. The motivations are endless, and endlessly fascinating. But what I found most gripping was the actual nuts and bolts of turning crumbling walls into a real home. And over the years, based on the steady stream of questions both Domenico and I get, I realized that most people have absolutely no idea of the work involved in achieving that end. This book is an attempt to fill in the blanks. I hope it answers some of the major questions and eliminates much of the confusion. I've traveled the length and breadth of Italy and have chosen a wide range of homes and home owners to showcase here. Since this is Italy, there are no rules to follow, except for those that guide your heart. These are homes that were created with love, and often against all odds. What does it take to imagine a warm hearth while you're looking at a pile of cold stones? How do you even begin to picture a table set for a Sunday lunch when sheep have been the most recent residents? Of course, this is part of the charm, and the magic. This is what I hope to convey in Restoring a Home in Italy.
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