Project Year: 2023
Construction: 2024-2025
250 sq m plus garden

Architectural Design, Interior Design, Lighting Design, Home Shopping, and Construction Management: Rachele Biancalani Studio. Photo: Rachele Biancalani

Clients' requests, a couple of art and history lovers:
1-Unite the old barn with the rest of the house
2-Modernize the existing traditional Tuscan style without distorting it
3-Create 3 bathrooms, one with a tub, double shower, and hydromassage jets
4-Master bedroom with 2 walk-in closets
5-Enormous black fenix kitchen
6-Have 2 fireplaces

Project style: "Tuscandy" style, a style where Tuscany meets minimalism
Colors used: sand, gray, Corten, natural wood
Flooring materials: all trowelled cement resin
Decorations/wall coverings: resin in the bathrooms and as a covering for the kitchen island, handmade terracotta wall coverings in the bathrooms.

Project highlights:
1- Long live continuous surfaces! All the coverings are resin except for small sections of bathroom walls.
2- The huge exposed A-frame in the barn.
3- The curves and color of the master bathroom, where the walls look like butter.
4- The kitchen island, entirely made of resin, with a built-in sink.

A very cmpleox project due to the client's numerous requests, requiring countless architectural revisions. As you can see from the photo, some rooms are still unfinished, but the project's coherence and overall vision are clear.
One of the key decisions I made as a designer was to eliminate all the superfluous elements from the 17th-century barn, which had been fitted with a false ceiling and converted into an apartment in a renovation that was disrespectful of the 1970s. Another key intervention on my part was to reopen all the shutters that had been bricked up and transform the small openings in the living room into a huge glass wall overlooking the surrounding countryside.
Last but not least, the designer decided to sandblast and glaze the ceilings with exposed tiles and beams, while still leaving the original color of the wood and terracotta tiles visible. This technique I've used for countless years in all renovations where I want to rejuvenate overly "heavy" ceilings. The Before and After photos clearly show how much the spaces benefited. The materials used are natural, such as handcrafted terracotta and reclaimed wood, which are used to create the custom-made furnishings. The kitchen is entirely custom-built and features a large 3-meter-long island with a stove, a retractable hood, and a sink.

PRODUCTS AND SUPPLIES:
-Wall lights and bathroom lamps: Toscot
-Sanitary ware: SDR
-Faucets: Oioli and Teorema
-Towel warmers and radiators: Irsap
-Resins: Arteviva
-Wall paints and baseboards: Kerakoll
-Handmade terracotta bathrooms: Cotto Etrusco