The Leonetti Family Vacation House...Evolution

Oh and the most cozy fireplace
which I love. It truly doesn't
get any better than nesting at
the vacation house. We are
close to everything we love
(hiking, ocean, wine country &
skiing)and totally isolated.
.
:: Living Areas ::

Over the years we have taken the
sub ceiling down, which exposed 400
year old chestnut beams &  tore
down plaster to expose stones.

The Swiss Pine tables, chairs and
cupboard were all custom made for
the house by the previous
owner.            
We bought this house in the Spring of 2006. The history of how we found this gem is another story, but just know
that we have always loved this house, the character and location, as a family we always enjoyed our time up there even
when it was super ugly so we took our time with the updates and renovations. There have been so many projects over
the years and all of them have not been photo documented - but the big ones are featured below.
Avalon had a stunning antler
collection when he lived in Germany.
He wasn't able to take them to
America so we imported them to
Italy and they are a perfect addition
to the master loft. Thanks Av!

PS - he painted them black and
when I told Zaven I wanted to put
them up at the vacay house he
said,"Oh no, black antlers...you are
going to 'evoke' something bad." So
I painted them white...good energy.
What a shit show. Dust for
days. 400 years ago they
didn't use cement in between
the stones just dirt and
straw and anything they
could find. Eeek. The new
roof and sky lights went fast
and then everything slowed
to a snails pace.

My goal was to not lose my
shit,  like I had with previous
contractors, with Gianni our
builder. I am pretty proud of
myself that we completed on
good terms and he will be
doing other work for us this
winter.    
We love the stone
exterior but knew
from our neighbor
that he had slapped
up the crappy
cement between the
stones haphazardly
in only 8 hours - so
it was sloppy and
there was no
definition between
the stones. We had
the old cement
chipped out and
new cement put
correctly between
stones.
And the roof. This has been
such a long process. It took us
4 years just to round up two
estimates - and get all the
approvals because the house is
considered historic...and
because this is Italy.  We
needed a new roof, but we also
wanted to remove the ceiling,  
expose the gorgeous old
beams, add lofts and skylights.
Finally we found a builder who
is an honest guy & does
beautiful work. Our contract
said it would take 30 days to
complete the job. We realized
that that did not mean 30
'consecutive' days.
The work kicked off in April and
finished at the end of
September 2015.

In between it was a total
mess.  
Before
After
Another big project was
replacing the front
window. We loved the
arch but loathed the
aluminum window with the
frosted glass. It made the
inside of the house dark &
cave like. I wanted a
beautiful CLEAR window
where I could sit inside by
the fire and watch it snow.

At about the same time
we had new windows
made - double paned
(because energy efficiency
was not a thing) with
Swiss Pine frames and
custom made doors for
the master & guest
rooms and bathroom.  
The bathroom was
so FUG there were
no before pictures.
Imagine a plastic
accordion door, a
tiny shower, no
window and white
tiles with orange and
blue flowers. Gads!
We tore the tiles out
- exposed the stone,
replaced the shower
and put in new tiles.
We also vaulted the
ceiling, exposing
beams and put in a
sky light.

December 2015
During the remodel
the builder dropped a
stone on the sink
taking a big chunk of
porcelain out of it
which gave us an
excuse to do an
upgrade. We have all
these beautiful old
timbers and planks
left from the ceiling
which we refurbished
to create a surface
for the new smaller
sink. We also created
a new shelf, not
pictured. It is
gorgeous and opens
up the space.  
Master Loft

With both the lofts we
wanted to preserve the  
original beams as much as
possible. There were a few
that were too far gone but
there were also several still
gorgeous and intact.  
Master After
Master Bedroom BEFORE - look at the ugly
ceiling. Love the chandelier though.
This is all the wood from the
old roof. It was 3 weekends
of cutting, stacking and
burning. We will be using the
beautiful old timbers for
other projects. And needless
to say we won't need
firewood this winter.  
The guest room. We took down
the wall and the new custom made
door we had just had made (using
it as a headboard in the master
room :), threw out that honky
closet thing and created a library
space. Eclectic and funky - love
the chair which came with the
house and the chandelier from the
master room and 3 shelves/ all of
our beloved books. It's hard to
not have book shelves look not
junky. Regardless it is more just
an open space to get to the loft.
Before
After
The Library
Loft

:: Area Views ::

Now if you stand with your
head out of the skylights you
can get a signal on your mobile
phone and we have internet via
satellite.








Over the years we have
collected and created a stone
terrace in our little cortile. In
the summer we sit outside
drink wine and have fires. I love
it.
Stairwell, new
skylight ...and
more of Av's
antlers.
There will always be more
renovations...so keep checking
back.

Not the end.
We saved the old
timbers. They are
just amazing. Who
would know looking
at the paint and
garbage. After
planing and sanding
- they just become
beautiful with even
without wood oil.  
Before
After
Before - ugly bricks
and crap around
this inset
After - gorgeous
frame from our
reclaimed chestnut
planks and timbers
Ugh this floor. What do you do
with it?
Get rid of it.  
June 2018 | The Fire Pit and Cortile Make Over  

Before - I am not sure why we didn't do this before. I was trying to relax outside and read a book on that
bench about a month ago and was so uncomfortable. I had pillows everywhere and still was miserable.

I have been pinning fire pits and our friends have a holiday house in Tahoe and they have adirondacks and a
fire pit. The Manley family and Pinterest were my inspiration. Thanks to Joe for having faith in my vision and
making it happen.

We cleaned up the area - figured out where we wanted it. Dug a hole. Well Joe dug and then we scavenged for
rocks which is always fun and voila the lovely after. I am delighted
January - June 2020

We always knew, that one day,
we would need to dig out the
foundation 40 cm / 1.5 feet -
because the main floor was
basically a thin level of cement
and some ugly tiles on top - it
was damp and cold and prone
to mustiness. Three levels of
cement, humidity block in
between. An additional level of
complexity was covid-19 &
quarantine. The entire project
was stalled, but before that,
the builder, as he as tearing up
the floor found a septic tank, in
the living room. WTH. Before
this was a house - the people
lived upstairs, animals/stalls
below. So totally ok to put the
septic tank in the stall. Fine,
until you decide to close it all off
and make it a livable space and
sell it and not disclose that
there is a septic tank in the
living room. Nightmare. Not
knowing, I had instructed
Gianni, the builder, that, by
chance, if he found a skeleton,
or Roman road, to just zip it
and keep working. NO one was
expecting a septic tank.
Surprise. Shit show. Literally.
Pumped, removed, and new one
installed outside under the
terrace.
When we were finally allowed to
leave Lombardia and come to
Piemonte, I was terrified of
what I would find. Beyond the
septic tank. And it was justified.
Yes, a ghiro/dormouse had
come in and partied upstairs,
ate a woven footstool, wooden
utensils and pooped all over.
Thank God they are adorable
and not a rat. And then the
floors - cleaning. The kitchen -
renovating. And the terrace -
putting the stones back. It was
like we moved. Organizing,
throwing so much old crap out
- purging. I loved it. We still
had stuff from the previous
owners, 14 years ago.
Yikes.Two solid weekends,
loooong days, of cleaning &
putting stuff together.
We invited Gianni, our builder,
to come celebrate and have a
little prosecco. We have all been
so desperate to be out and be
somewhat normal.
Before - look at that fug floor?!
After - awe, this floor is so much
better