Halls, Walls, Floors, and Doors

 As I have noted previously, the Villa del Vigneto was originally a farm house. The living quarters were located above the barn and various storerooms. When a banker from Venice bought the farmhouse and turned it into a country retreat for his family, the renovation included some major changes, mostly on the lower level. The second story changes were kept to a minimum, since the original space already included the living areas. Years later, the banker's son inherited the villa, and further renovation included installing a bathroom and electric lights, but the rustic simplicity of the rooms remained unchanged.

TWO BEDROOMS

I accomplished a few more steps of construction in April. Perhaps you remember that a previous post showed the door that I made for the smallest bedroom. Here it is, hanging on its hinges just as it should be. The door opens into the back hallway.  

The small bedroom is located at the east (right) end of the villa and contains one of the few upstairs windows.

The last step in completing this room (except for the ceiling) was to mount the front wall. The large opening, as in all my houses, is for viewing purposes only. In reality, there is a solid wall that includes a second small window.

I also made a door, nearly identical to the first, for the center bedroom. This door opens into a shorter hallway that leads to the back hallway or to the stair landing on the left.

Another front wall is up! I secured the front walls with toothpicks and glue and applied spackling over the wall seams. This is a solid front wall as well, but instead of a window, it contains a door that opens onto a balcony.

Here are the two bedrooms shown in relation to the lower level rooms. The kitchen is on the east, and the dining room is beneath the center bedroom.

STAIR LANDING

I realized, way too late, that I neglected to take a "before" photo of the shelf niche that I embedded in the back wall of the stairwell. You can sort of see the niche in the center of the above photo. The niche - I can't remember where it came from - was originally white plaster that I painted. It is about an inch deep, so it is a good fit in the 1 1/2" thick styrofoam wall. There is a flanged edge that finishes it off nicely.

The back stairwell wall - niche included - is mounted.

Here is a close-up of the shelf niche with a collection of "Venetian" glass.

This long wall separates the stair landing from another short hallway that leads to the master bedroom and the bathroom. The front half of the wall extends over the exterior courtyard.

This view shows the bedroom side of the long wall. The light isn't good, but you can just see the niche in the landing wall through the arched doorway.

Another view from the bedroom side of the wall, through the arched doorways on either side of the landing. 

The tile floor is going in on the stair landing. I've completed the edging around the four sides. I've also added a clock and a wall hanging (a rug) to the stairwell wall to keep the niche company. I bought the rug to use on one of the floors, but later decided that I'd prefer to keep all the floors bare. I think I like the rug better as a wall hanging anyway.

The tile floor on the landing is finished. I used the same size tiles as on the entrance floor below.

This is the last viewing through the two arched doorways on the landing. The wall that separates the master bedroom from the short hallway will block this view. Bummer. I really like this perspective. That framed print that hangs on the other short hallway wall will never be seen head-on again, either. I feel sort of like the Master of the Universe. Scary. 

Now that the landing floor is in, the next step is to build the remainder of the stair banister. I've measured for correct spacing and drilled holes for the spiral-twist nails. The nail heads still have to be cut off with a bolt cutter. 

The stair railing is complete, including the bead trim at the base of the balusters.

The third front wall is mounted! And I see a crack in the back corner that wasn't there before! Good Grief! It'll be easy to repair; would have been easier without that front wall. I'll need to patch it from the top.

This shows the entire stairwell from the ground-floor entrance to the landing. That bright white speck on the entrance floor is a fleck of styrofoam. Can't get rid of all that stuff! I'll need to damp-mop the whole house when it's finished.

Here is the entire villa in its present stage of construction.

And a second view.

THE LONG BACK HALLWAY

Here is the back hallway without the back wall. It turns the corner at the end into the short hallway that leads to the center bedroom. The door on the left goes into the small east bedroom.

The LONG BACK WALL is up! The hallway suddenly became darker.

The wall mirror with a shelf was mounted in place before the wall was up, as were the two sconce lights. The seam showing near the front arched doorway still needs a treatment of spackling.

A longer view of the mirror and sconces.

I changed my mind about the placement of the paintings that I mentioned in my last post. I like the long panel better at the end of the hallway instead of on the wall near the bedroom. I also placed the urn on the floor instead of on a pedestal as I had planned. 

A better view of the smallest painting near the arched doorway.

The sconce lighting definitely helps brighten the confined space of the hallway.

This is a view of the wall mirror as seen through the doorway of the small east bedroom...

...and here you can see the side of the long panel and the urn against the back wall. This view is from the doorway of the center bedroom. You can also see, on the right near the door, the only view that will ever be possible of the tall print that you saw through the two arches earlier.

And so construction continues as I move on to the master bedroom on the west end of the villa. But that's a project for another post.

MEANWHILE...

 Robert flew out to Port Townsend, Washington, (near Seattle) last month to attend a wooden boat class, where he finished the basic construction of a 14' wooden kayak. He left the boat at his brother's house in Port Townsend. Later in the month, Robert and a friend drove our pickup truck back to Port Townsend to transport the kayak to our garage in Lincoln. (That was a LOT of driving!) The photo shows Robert busy sanding on the boat in preparation for many applications of epoxy, fiber glass, and varnish. Then he'll add woodwork around the opening - and it'll be ready for the water. He's a novice at kayaking - so I'll have to leave the villa long enough to stand guard as he embarks on the maiden voyage. Thank goodness the kayak has just one seat; Robert can't invite me to join him!

Going My Way on the Long Black Highway

It's possible that I'm obsessed with the back hallway in the Villa del Vigneto. One of my sons-in-law is an art teacher in Lincoln, and he also has a popular local band called the Mezcal Brothers. Gerardo is a talented songwriter, and one of his songs is entitled "Long Black Highway." Well, every time - EVERY TIME - that I look down the villa's back hallway, that song starts thrumming in my head. Except that the lyrics change to "Long Black Hallway." So I've redoubled my efforts to make sure the hallway doesn't give the impression of being a "Long Black Highway!"

I decided that a pottery urn on a pedestal might work as a "roadblock" at the end of that long, black hallway. I shaped a lidded urn from Sculpey.

I added some grape vines and leaves to further the vineyard theme of the Villa del Vigneto.

I don't remember what my original color choice was meant to be; I probably had a good reason to paint the urn white.

But it may not have been a very good reason, since the urn ended up with almost the same terra cotta finish as the original Sculpey, although it may be somewhat rosier.

The finished urn is a bit lumpy and bumpy, but it sits straight and secure on its pedestal and calls out, "STOP!" whenever the eye encounters it down that long, black highway. (Oops; I meant hallway.)

Pictures! The hallway needs more pictures, but since they will be viewed only from the side instead of straight on, I wanted substantial frames that won't hang too flat against the wall. I assembled several frames from materials that I had on hand, cut to fit prints that I found in my villa stash.

This frame was made from pieces of wood with a twisted pattern. I glued some "embellishment" on the four corners.

This tall panel will hang on one side of the hallway not far from the bedroom door.

It measures approximately 3" x 5 3/4".

This rectangular frame is about 3 1/2" x 4 1/2". 

I added a piece of beaded trim from my box of sewing remnants. 

And a generous application of metallic gold paint turned it into a fat frame!

I layered two different sizes of wood strips for this oblong frame, which measures 2" x 5 1/2". Brass corner pieces added some ornate detail.

A mixture of brass and gold paint was applied; the finished result also involved a little aging process.

And two more pictures are ready to add to the Camouflage Collection. (Also known as the Great Highway Disguise.)

 It's time to take a detour off that Long Black Highway and tend to some wall-raising business. The wall on the left (number six, but who's counting!) overlooks the villa's entrance courtyard below and extends all the way to the back of the villa. Looking through the center bedroom door, you can just glimpse an arched doorway that leads to the stair landing from the short hallway outside the bedroom. This short hallway connects to the long one.

 Shown above is the view of the same wall from the back hallway. The arched doorway is on the right, leading to the stair landing.

 Now that the sixth wall is in place, you can see that it forms the short hallway outside the center bedroom. I had just enough left-over tile pieces to cover this floor in the same way that I tiled the long hallway.

The tiled short hallway seen from the center bedroom door.

The seventh wall to go up is the dividing wall between the east and the center bedrooms.

 The front extension of this wall overlooks the loggia below.

Now that there are two separate bedrooms, tiling the floors was the next step. Except that first I needed to make the tiles! I laid out the first batch of cork coasters and applied various color washes at random. I painted batches of coasters until there were no more on hand.

 I made these tiles in the same way as those for the downstairs rooms. Since the coasters have slightly rounded corners, I had to trim away the round edges, which meant that I could cut only 9 tiles (1" square) from each coaster instead of the 16 that I had hoped for - but on the other hand, I was left with many useful scraps! 

 I measured and marked the coasters, cut off the scrap pieces, and cut the 1" tiles. The cork cuts easily with scissors.

 I tiled the floor in the small east bedroom first. I marked the center of the floor, drew four straight lines as a guide, and laid rows of tiles, starting from the center point. 

 I added more rows, using the previous rows as my guidelines.

 And done! (Almost.)

 I aged the tiles with a dry-brush application of Spice Brown paint and some Taupe eyeshadow.

 And finally, applied a light coat of satin varnish to add a little depth. And now - Finished!

 So on to the center bedroom. (Which, by the way, I will be so happy to give a real name, based on a dominant color, or an occupant, or any other factor besides location!) I needed an extra guideline in this room, since there is a jutting angle.

 And the tiles go on, row by row.

 Until finished...

and aged...

and varnished - and Done! 

This bedroom floor isn't as even as the others; I know that's entirely due to the age and settlement of the house over all the years and can't be helped. Perhaps the uneven tiles add to the character of the villa, as laugh lines or worry lines define the human character. This house has been well used and well loved, and has "settled" into its own bones as it reaches a great age. 

Another month, another blog post! Time is moving fast, but I'm thankful that my progress on the Villa del Vigneto is moving at a slower pace. I'm enjoying this project too much to hurry it along!
March went on its way with quiet days of mizzle and drizzle, and spring is taking its time in getting established. But surely April will soon burst forth with bud and blossom and sunshine and warmth. I can't wait!