My love for
old Tuscan doors and windows started from the very first weeks of my new life
in Italy nearly 18 years ago. I was always looking for postcards with windows
surrounded by geranium pots or old wooden doors of charming countryside houses
to send back home to family and friends.
For all my childhood I lived in a big
city and everyday I longed for a place in the countryside where I could go to
play and run in the fields. My grandfather had told me stories of his family’s
large farm, but the arrival of communism after the Second World War brought to
an end the concept of private property. Hundreds of hectares were confiscated
and decades of hard work vanished like smoke in the air.
Little did I know that
my childhood dreams would come true in different country…
Here I am now helping
to care for a place rich in history and simple beauty like Il Poggio alleVille. My “new” countryside…
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| Old stable door with bright geraniums and a small lemon tree |
It is the
entire merit of Nicoletta Gabbrielli, who carefully photographed our
agriturismo last summer, that I realized how many beautiful doors and windows
there are here too.
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| One of the two entrance doors in Villa Montagna |
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| The contrast between the lively geraniums and the old door is quite special |
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| Entrance door of our small chapel from 1720 |
During the
renovation works in the mid-1990s, my mother-in-law (a former biologist
specialized in wood restoration) insisted that all old doors inside the houses
must be kept in place, restored and admired for their sheer beauty.
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| Old Tuscan door inside one of the farmhouses |
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| Restored stable doors are quite fascinating |
Nicoletta
took some wonderful shots of internal and external windows in the sun.
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| Warm Tuscan sun on old Tuscan windows |
She also
captured some hidden doors of former stables that somehow I always ignored.
Her
photos helped us rediscover our place under many aspects, and we are truly
grateful.
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| One day, behind this door, there will be a small museum |
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| Just imagine two grandparents having a chat on this bench... |
And
remember: When one door closes, another opens. :-)
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| Farmhouse La Colombaia - under the staircase the doors of an old barn |
