If stones could talk...
Spazzavento has had many lives and seen lots of changes over the centuries. The bulk of the restoration was undertaken thirty years ago by the previous owners and involved first re-opening the arches of the loggia and then creating windows. An internal staircase was added connecting the two floors. Below, the original animal stalls were converted to cosy bedrooms and a comfortable dining room with a small sitting room. A back room downstairs, once used for storing farming implements, was converted into a rustic kitchen where hand-made terracotta tiles salvaged from a 14th century house were used for the flooring we see today. Wherever possible throughout the house, old cotta was used and the aged chestnut beams kept in place. The meter-thick walls help maintain a pleasantly cool temperature indoors in the summer months. Spazzavento was equipped with its first modern bathrooms at this time.
We purchased the house in 1999 and have carefully added to the restoration process by updating the upstairs bathroom, re-designing and building a stone and terracotta staircase, remodeling & creating the Nile studio and bath, replacing the old terrace and a traditional outdoor wood-burning oven. We have even added a small shrine to the Madonna; in my painting the Blessed Mother holds our twin grandchildren in her arms. I, the artist who paints at El Marsam, have incorporated my artwork into the very walls of the property, making my paintings a real part of El Marsam’s “permanent collection”.
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