Rehab Report: Domus Civita
Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy
It’s been almost two months since I posted about Patrizio Fradiani’s rehab in Civita. There’s been a lot of under-the-hood work going on, like plumbing and electrical, so the progress isn’t as visual as it will be in the coming weeks. The facade is getting restored and all the wooden ceilings and painted brick sandblasted. Interior walls are being built, while old ones are restored, scraped and replastered. They’re installing new stairs, which will allow access to the caves and the garden, and restoring a pair of beautiful old doors Patrizio found in the house. And the most grueling projects so far: Patrizio decided to “rescue” a portion of the yard, which had inadvertently become a dump for the last 50 years for an entire section of town. “It all had to be done by hand–three guys, three weeks to remove the dirt and debris, but now it has doubled in size and the views are amazing,” he says, like it was nothing. In the process, they uncovered a remnant of an old butto, which is a well that collected old broken pottery for each house, so if you’re lucky enough to come across one, you can see the history of the house through the broken pieces. It’s like an archeological dig. “The one we found in our garden belonged to a house that had long ago collapsed, leaving us with remnants from the 16th century.” I love watching the space take shape. Even in this condition, the light has such a magical quality.
