farmhouse renovation
The village of Pruno, whose first attestation dates back to the year 823 in a document that establishes its belonging to the nobles of Corvaia, is located on the slopes of the Apuan Alps among ancient chestnut woods and in the background the Pania della Croce and Monte Forato. The village was the last refuge on the mule track that led from the plain towards Castelnuovo and Garfagnana, through the Mosceta’S Pass.
The rural property is located right at the point where the old mule track reaches the village from below, in the locality of Turignana, a toponym already attested in the 16th century, below the Romanesque parish church built on the edge of the town, inside a chestnut forest dotted with the presence of some yew trees. The arrival of the road on the opposite side of the town, dating back to the 1970s, would then completely overturn the original road layout.
The building complex is located on a portion of outcropping rock, which in the past was the site of a small quarrying site for the construction of stone stairs and jambs, and is divided into two buildings: a main one from a more remote era and inhabited until the beginning of the 20th century, characterised by the characteristics and proportions of a medieval tower house, and a secondary one previously used as a metato, the structure intended for drying chestnuts for the production of flour.
The two buildings were in a state of profound abandonment, with the roofs and internal floors completely collapsed, and the aim of the project was to recover the complex as a dwelling, introducing the necessary precautions in the structural and energy saving fields without altering the strong and distinctive characteristics of a spontaneous and essential architectural language.
The floors and roofs were made of chestnut wood, as were the floors of the bedrooms and part of the furniture, reflecting the prevailing typology of the area; the masonry was largely preserved, leaving the external casing completely exposed and plastering the stones of the internal facings with lime mortar, while the new internal partitions were completely plastered. The stone slab roofing was also restored using the previously removed recovery elements.
The lower floors of the buildings were made with the Venetian terrazzo technique made on site, using Cipollino marble as the main aggregate, whose nearby quarries have been inactive for about half a century. The internal stairs have an iron structure with treads in chestnut wood, an essence also used for both internal and external fixtures. The continuous comparison and assiduous collaboration with the skilled local craftsmen has favored the success of the first prototypes of technological and architectural solutions.
In order to save energy for the production of hot water, both for sanitary purposes and for heating, a wood-burning thermo-cooker was installed, alongside a small photovoltaic system for the production of electricity installed on a secondary building located a short distance from the site; furthermore, a cistern was planned for the recovery of rainwater for irrigation of the nearby vegetable garden.
