Update

Some more photos just in from Geoff. There has been a lot of rain but the builders are still managing to make progress.



Here you can see the positioning of the external staircase.



From the dining room looking into the kitchen.




Here you can see another layer of damp proof course.



Looking down the hallway.

Progress photos

There has been a lot of progress over the last few weeks.
The foundations are completely finished and the block walls are starting to go up. The stone masons will then get to work with the original stone.


I will post the photos in the order that the build progressed.......




After the steel went in it was all filled with concrete




Then filled with shingle before more steel mesh was laid on top.




Then concrete was laid over the whole base.




Ready to start!




These are igloos, they are laid over the base for the damp course.







And then more concrete goes in!





The block walls!

Foundations laid

I'm amazed at how much progress the builders have made this week. The steel rebar all went in....






And the concrete has been poured...








Once the concrete is fully dry they will actually start building the walls.

Things are really moving along, the preparations are being made to lay the foundations!

Latest photos over from Geoff. The builders are preparing to lay the foundations, they have also put boards in place to hold the wet cement and these show where the internal walls will be so we are starting to be able to see what the downstairs room layout will look like.



Good to see Maurizio making sure everything is as it should be!



You can also see where there is a change of level in the house.



The next job is to put in place the steel rebar and then pour the concrete.
The external staircase and porticos will be added add a later stage.

Spoke to Geoff today.........

Lots of progress, the builders are well on the way to clearing the rocks away so that they can start digging the foundations.









Loads of stone has been saved to be re-used




And there's plenty of earth set aside that will be used when we are landscaping the gardens.






Hopefully by next week the builders will have dug the trenches and they will be putting down the foundations.

Latest photos.

The builders came back this week and have started clearing the site.





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A few more holiday snaps

Kings of the castle.




Sunflowers in the valley. These are pictures of different fields in the Niccone Valley.







Panoramic view from Cortona.



A few more shots of the ruin.











Beautiful sunset. Taken from the terrace at Casa Vecchia where we stayed this summer.





Gubbio. Beautiful medieval town about 45 minutes from Preggio.











Making important decisions with Tom & Olly.

Putting faces to the names.

Just found a photo of Geoff Flynn, who found the house for us, and is now our project manager (although that doesn't even come close to covering what he's actually done for us and we couldn't have done any of this without him) and Maurizio Urso, our Geometra (who has had to not only design the house but also handle all of the permissions, thermal calculations etc and the authorities). We don't currently have a picture of Gordon Carey who is an English architect who has a house in Umbria and also helped design the house.

Another thing that I love about Italy!

Wine..... Now most of us are partial to a drop of wine at the end of the day especially when we are on holiday. But how about this.......



€1.37 per litre (£1.12) in the local supermarket in Umbertide. Perfectly drinkable.
White, rose and red are all available although I'd have to say that we liked the rose the best. I was quite surprised when we got back to the U.K to see the white wine in Tesco but in a smaller (750ml) carton for £3.99. Who said we get ripped off over here???

Storm

I recorded these on my phone sitting by the pool.
We watched the storm come across the valley and didn't go in doors until we felt the rain. It was quite stunning and the videos don't do it justice. We had blue skies on one side and storm clouds coming at us on the other. Little did we know that a while afterwards the lightening would almost strike the house and knock out the power!!

Just a thought

Things I love about Celle Di Sotto

Walking up the road to our house there were grape vines growing in the olive trees, blackberries growing on the brambles and wild fennel growing by the old ruin. There's a plum tree by the house which I hope we can move and keep, a cherry tree and obviously loads of olive trees.......beautiful.........I feel so lucky and cannot wait for it to be finished

A few more pics

This is where we stayed.

Gubbio