contractor shopping
A few weeks ago before leaving for our trip to the US, we met with a couple of contractors who’ve we’ve been recommended in the area. The first was a company in our nearby comune. We stopped by their offices one afternoon to introduce ourselves and explain the basic idea of the project.
…They were a larger local company who had a big team of workers to handle big projects. We gave them the general idea of the house and they didn’t seem phased by the style, but instead seemed a bit excited at the idea of something like this happening in the area. They showed us their catalog of various projects in the region, and although none were particularly my style (which they were not particularly the designer), the quality seemed good and they assured me they had ample manpower to handle this with no problem. We asked for a rough estimate of how long it would take piu o meno, and without hesitation they said around 9-10 months.
I immediately looked surprised as I was estimating at the speed of how things go in Italy, even though less than a year could be sufficient time in the US, that here it would probably be around a year and a half, so I’d even given myself up to 2 years so I’d mentally be prepared. But they were confident and showed us a larger commercial building they’d just completed under a year.
Then a couple of days later we went to a nearby town to meet another builder, who was just wrapping up a project with our geometra - a smaller boutique hotel in a full restored palazzo. Our geometra had already told the builder a bit about our project and he was excited to meet and see about taking on the project. Plus another friend in the area had also given us this builder’s name as well so he seemed to have a good reputation.
We arrived at the construction site and quickly made our way up the stone staircase of the palazzo, past rooms and rooms filled with the building team, exposed pipes, hammering, and newly installed windows, and met up with the builder. We all shook hands, and he explained what he was doing with this project, that it was of course a renovation but that there were a few details we could see that would be up to the standard we were looking for in the new build.
Our geometra was also there, and after discussing the general idea of the house, the builder mentioned that we should all go have a coffee and meet up with the owner of this project so we could hear (and see) firsthand what they thought. So he quickly made a call and off we went down the stairs, out the door, and around the corner to the main piazza where we scooted inside the bar just as another woman approached. A fellow expat who’d lived her for many years, she was the mother of the owner of this new boutique hotel. Her daughter who lives in Miami commissioned the build and since she wasn’t on-site, her mom was there daily just to check on the progress. Although we were all speaking in Italian as we stood in the narrow passageway of the bar, passing around espresso, caffe deca, e un macchiato, she turned to me and spoke in English to say that they’d been very impressed with the work thus far, felt the team was honest, competent, and hard-working.
A few minutes later, the builder once again mentioned that we should go and meet another previous client. He made another phone call and off we went - all of us, including our new acquaintance, to a neighboring town on the next hill over. We carpooled in 2 vehicles and although this is a town we’re very familiar with, after we’d driven through the center we exited once again out the back of the village and soon turned down a road that we’d never been on before. A long unpaved and very narrow road, eventually led us to a gate at the very end.
After we’d been buzzed through we parked and got out of the car to see a couple coming out to greet us. I immediately could see that I was going to be impressed by this place. This project, completed by the builder several years ago, was the perfect example to show to us. Part of it was a fully restored farmhouse, and the other part which was seamlessly integrated was a new modern build - both aesthetics which I’m trying to maintain as well. The best of both worlds. It was even build into the slope of a hill as my project will be, and as we were about to see, the interior was completed with many of the same modern fittings and details as I have in mind.
To spite the absolutely incredible view that this property has on the outcropping of the side of a hill which offers about a 270-degree panoramic view over the entire area - I was excited to get inside to see the rest. We walked through a glass door and immediately saw the perfect marriage of old / new, modern / traditional, and I really began to feel confident that my project wasn’t just something that would be possible, but something that a builder from here could also completely understand and get behind.
Our hosts graciously showed us around their entire place, pointing out that their Swiss architect had made almost a new free-standing modern structure inside the shell of the old farmhouse. This gave me many visuals that I’m wanting to incorporate as well - large panes of glass, metal fittings, no-frame hallway doors.
The details were really wonderful to see: hidden lighting tracks, raised wall panels, doorways custom build to fit old found doors, and traditional materials like stone and brick used inside in clean ways. The house just kept on going…there was a full gym/yoga space, den, and bar down stairs in the area below ground, but a full skylit hallway to let in natural light, as well as several guest rooms, an open-plan upstairs office which had the full view over the valley.
More importantly than even what we saw, was what we heard - the owners assured us that they’d done several projects like this over the years and this being the largest and most intense. And also that it was one where they felt like they had the best contractor and building team. They shared that of course things went wrong, but they were remedied immediately, and that this builder stood by his word and reputation and also produced a quality product. Enough, so it seemed, that he became friends with past clients, which is always a good sign.
We left and I felt that I would feel very comfortable with this builder taking on the project. But also knowing now we wait for the quotes to come in.
Vediamo (we’ll see).