A little group of photos

Geoff sent me some pictures that show the full progress of the build so far

Lots and lots of progress

The first level was completed in February.

Been too long!

The stone masons laid the stones in the traditional way with bricks and larger stones dotted around.

I'm really slacking when it comes to this blogging lark!

There has been a lot of progress in the last month or so.
The stonework is amazing and the builders are doing a magnificent job.

I will post the photos in the order that they were sent to me so we can follow the progress properly.

The first stones are laid.

All of the stones are from the original structure.



Above you can see the extra insulation between the stone and the clay bricks.



The stonemasons are doing a wonderful job.




The bricks are reclaimed. They are washed before they are laid and when waterlogged they are very dark red. They will not be so dark once they have dried out a bit.







A typical Umbrian finish for a window.



The level change in the hallway.






Left to right, downstairs toilet window and 2 windows in the seating end on the kitchen.


Wonderful big old stones to make the doorframe for the principal entrance.



These double doors will be under the portico, facing down to the pool.



There will be a small pergola here on the back of the kitchen where we will eat breakfast on wonderful sunny mornings.

After a big delay.....

There has been a lot of progress since my last post. What with the build up to Christmas and the actual event I just didn't get round to posting the pictures.
Geoff has been sending plenty so I take all of the blame.




As you can see the Walls are a lot higher now. The window and door openings are far more obvious than before. In the next photo it's easier to get an idea of the height.




The two door openings shown here will eventually be under the portico facing
down to the pool.



The steel rods shown in the picture above are to help hold the stone in place when it is added to the external wall.



The first bits of stone are laid. Stones and bricks will be laid roughly and at times deliberately unevenly as they would have been when the original house was built.
We are hoping that every stone laid will be from the original house but if we run out
(due to the increased size of the new house) then we will source reclaimed stones as close as possible to the originals. The bricks that are being used for the corners of the house and the door and window surrounds are reclaimed and are cleaned up before being laid. They are, therefore, waterlogged in some of these pictures and appear much redder than they will once dried out. You will also notice in some of the pictures below that there are bricks and the occasional large stone in the Walls. When the original house was built the farmers would have used any pieces of stone or brick that could be found on the land and that is what we are trying to replicate.






















Below you can see some examples of reclaimed timber lintels for the windows






The wood will obviously be cleaned up but the above picture gives us an idea of the depth of the walls and windows.



This picture is taken from the sitting area looking into the kitchen, there will be an archway in the middle where you can see the pillars.



The old stones, waiting to be used. The stone with the cross will hopefully be laid somewhere prominent.



At the bottom right hand side of the picture above you can see where the floor level changes inside the house. When the landscaping begins outside there will be a step here externally.