la pietra
Besides the interior stone and marble details that I’ve been working on, the major decision of which pietra (stone) to use on the exterior section of the house was recently made as well.
The more modern part of the layout which is towards the back of the house and has the flat roof above, will all be clad in stone. It’s a big chunk of the exterior look and thus very important to consider carefully. Over the winter I’d begun talks with a local company who own a cava of their own where they quarry stone and sell in many forms, from standard sizes to custom cuts. There were quite a few variables to consider, not just the tones, shapes, and style of cuts, but also the price as I had no idea before starting to shop around, how hugely varied the prices can be for this depending on the smoothness of the cuts, the uniform shapes, and type of rock chosen.
The original architect renderings for the exterior finishes had a lighter stone cut in a uniform, yet rough, block and linear style. I knew that I wanted to use more of the local coloring of stone so the house would go a bit more with the typical surroundings.
I love the pairing of something modern and traditional (as I think this entire house is a marrying of the traditional farmhouses from the countryside with a new modern take on the layout and refinement of the materials). So I thought that it would be nice to use more of the stonework that you see on many of the country houses around here, but on this modern section of the house which had the more unique shape of a long and low block with a flat roof.
The more stereotypical stone throughout the countryside varies from one zone to the next depending on what rock is actually coming from the earth in that very specific location. Even within a 30-min radius around here you’ll find an area where the grey-toned pietra serena is more prevalent, or the slightly green-tinted rough volcanic tufo stone. The orange hues of the pietra di Izzalini, and plenty of other local varieties mostly involving types of travertine and limestone.
Immediately around the area the stone tends to be quite variegated in nature with greys, creams, and warm flecks of a yellowed/orange tint. I settled on a partially cut stone that will allow for more straight horizontal lines to be created during the placing of the stones on the wall (instead of the puzzle-pieced multi-size cuts that you see on the older farm houses), but using the hyper-local stone color.
We were able to go to the quarry ourselves and meet the stone cutter who works each individual piece by hand passing it through this heavy-duty, yet simple machine that cracks each stone into pieces. We discussed the general size and shape that I preferred, and when we should be needing it delivered. I’ve also spoken with the muratore who will be facing it for me about having the stacked almost to seem that it’s drystone work (without grout), but although there will be cement between the stones, there will be as little as possible and only used from a couple of centimeters in from the exterior as not to be too visible.
The full load should be able to be delivered to the site within the month and I’m hoping that by mid-May the muratore can begin with starting to place them outside. It will be so nice after all this time to be able to slowly cover the rough red blockwork and begin to see the finished look!