Casa delle Acque
Casa delle Acque is situated on the northern limit
of the cypress wood, where the ancient walls
of Gello once stood. The ground level is completely
dedicated to daily activities around a roomy carrara
marble kitchen and a comfortable sitting room
with a large fireplace. Paved in terra cotta
and flanked by benches, two terraces
at the opposite ends of the building extend the
day area outside the perimeter walls.
Shaded by cypresses, one of the terraces also
houses a brick oven.
On the upper level, the sleeping area is comprised
of two double bedrooms and a single room.
Two bathrooms are equipped with showers and
one has a large built-in tiled bathtub.
A third, smaller bathroom, is located under the
staircase on the ground level.
Every window has views of the tiled roofs of Gello
and the Cecina River Valley landscape.
Why Le Acque?
Well, the closest spring is in the valley below,
about 2km away.
In fact there aren’t any springs in Gello.
Rural Tuscan architecture is always held in great
consideration by the owners, but placing a bathroom
inside a house where there had never been
any plumbing was a troubling question.
In fact, the former inhabitants would patiently
line up in front of the single toilet, right against
the Scuola wall!
In tune with the radical architecture movement of 1962,
somebody thought that instead of fitting bathrooms
in each house, it would have been possible
and cheaper to transfer the sanitary needs of the
village into a single building... This was our joke for
a long time, but this is how the name Le Acque
came to be.
Rebuilding Casa delle Acque
In 1962 the house was already in bad condition.
The thick stone walls were still standing,
but the wooden elements had too long suffered
from the leaking roof. Demolishing the whole
building was the only possible option at this time.
In 2003 the remaining walls, 3 meters high,
surrounding the ancient vaulted cellars were
demolished. Alabaster rock soil was excavated,
making space for ventilation underneath.
New foundations were set to hold brick and stone
load bearing walls. We recycled the original stones
for the 50 cm thick walls. Together with plaster
they ensure better temperature control.
Tuscan country houses are generally very simple
buildings. Use of original materials was a must
in the reconstruction of this old village.
We were lucky enough to find original lintels and
window sills at the ancient quarry, formerly
the greatest European copper mine in Montecatini
Val di Cecina (8 km away. The mine can be visited
– especially with children – check www. Comune di
montecatini val di cecina –museo delle miniere)
Chestnut wood beams and joists are still today used
in Tuscany. Original terracotta floors were not as
easy to find, but we knew that our house wouldn’t
have looked the same with an imitation.
There is no better wood than cypress for windows.
We used logs directly from our little cypress wood,
using trees that were cut down because they
were pruned or unhealthy.
Once the original look was recreated, we began
thinking of modern interiors.
So we tailored Le Acque for a family with several
children, with large collective spaces for summers
spent both inside and outside the house,
or lazy winters in front of the fireplace.
Dimensions:
• Ground floor: kitchen 21 m2, sitting room 33 m2,
• First floor: rooms measure 13, 16 and 12,5 m2
• Kitchen: dishwasher, oven, fully equipped kitchen.
Composition:
• communicating kitchen and living room
• two double rooms and one twin bedroom
• three closets
• two bathrooms, either with shower or bathtub
• guest's bathroom
