The Montalcino House
Boots on the ground + Where is everyone? + Let's step it up
If you are just tuning in, check out our past newsletters to catch up on our adventure of finding, buying, and restoring a 200-year-old home in Montalcino.
Boots on the (very dusty) ground
We arrived in Montalcino on a Tuesday evening with a larger-than-usual rental car filled to the brim with tools and equipment. The interior finishes are underway, and Stefano came prepared to work.
After settling into the rental apartment that would be our home for the next two weeks, we walked over to have a look at our house. We were apprehensive about what we might find, and as soon as we entered, it became clear our concerns were justified.
As we walked from room to room, we saw that the terra cotta floors had been finished and stuccoed, and a few more walls had been plastered; however, less progress had been made than we had hoped since our last visit in April. Moreover, the work site was disorganized and messy, with items scattered everywhere and construction dust and debris covering the newly installed floors.
Here in the States, Stefano is maniacal about keeping our job sites clean and protecting finished surfaces. This was a far cry from his standards. “Well,” we told ourselves, “it’s good that we’re here.”
Where is everyone?
At 7:30 the next morning, we left our apartment and stopped by Bar Belvedere for a caffè and to say hello to the family who owns it, with whom we’ve become friendly. They greeted us with smiles. Bentornati! Come vanno i lavori? Welcome back! How is the work coming along?
Caffeinated, Stefano proceeded to the house, while I went to the commune to renew our historical center parking permit and to the Co-op to pick up some groceries. I arrived at the house an hour or so later and found Stefano and Rio, one of the crew members, setting up the new tile cutter for the large-format bathroom tile we’d selected.
Ciao, I said. Dove sono tutti? Where is everyone? C’è solo Rio, Stefano replied. Rio, a Kosovar, is a big guy with a booming voice and a fun-loving personality. He is also a talented tradesman.
Rio explained that the rest of the guys are spread across several other jobs, including a time-sensitive roof replacement at an area farm stay. Rio has been working at our house all by himself. That explains why progress has been slow. Well, Stefano is here now, so hopefully they can move things forward.
Over the next several days, the two of them worked together to install the heated floor system in the bathrooms and begin the process of installing the bathroom tile. They also set the travertine hearth and mantle of the fireplace, and were on site when the windows arrived and were installed.
In the meantime, I drove around in our Peugeot 3008 rental car, attending to other matters. I visited our marble suppliers in Arezzo to confirm the stone selected for the bathroom countertops, went to the tile showroom to pick out tile for the kitchen floors, stopped by the bank to figure out why my mobile app was not not working, and met with our lighting architect in Grosseto so she could show me a few places to shop for furniture and mattresses.
One day, Stefano asked if I could run and pick up some 1.5 mm tile spacers. Certo, I said. I assumed I’d go to the tile shop where we bought all the tile, which was located in the nearby town of San Quirico d’Orcia, about 20 minutes away. However, Rio said there was a smaller, closer place just outside of Montalcino. Go there, he said. It will be faster.
I knew the place Rio was referring to, as I’d driven by it and seen the signage, but I thought it was just an outdoor construction yard. I hadn’t realized that it was open to the public for retail. I parked where I thought I was out of the way, and walked through the yard looking for someone who could help me. Amidst the trucks coming and going and forklifts buzzing around carrying pallets raised high in the air, I found someone who looked like he worked there.
Buongiorno. Avrei bisogno di spessori a croce per piastrelle da un millimetro e mezzo. Good afternoon. I need 1.5-millimeter cross-shaped tile spacers.
He looked at me strangely but replied, Subito! Ma prima, signora, Le chiedo di spostarsi di là. Right away! But first, ma’am, if you could please step over there.
I’ve been around construction sites enough to recognize that what he really meant was “please get the hell out of the way of these moving trucks and forklifts,” so I quickly stepped back against the wall of the little mobile office and waited for him to return.
He came back holding a bag, but told me that unfortunately, he only had 2 mm spacers. I would have called Stefano to ask if those would work, but I had no cell phone reception, so I made the executive decision to go with the 2 mm ones. It might take me all day to find the 1.5 mm ones, and we were already short on time. A half-millimeter wider grout line would be fine.
Due milimetri vanno bene, I said.
He rang me up and asked if I needed a fattura, or invoice, for tax incentive purposes. Not for a bag of spacers that only costs a couple of Euros, I replied, smiling. He smiled too, and said, Allora, grazie e arrivederci!
Just as I was about to reply with an arrivederci of my own, he brought his fingers together with the fingertips touching and pointed upwards in that universally-recognized Italian hand gesture signaling that a question was coming, and added, Posso chiedere - ma Lei chi è? May I ask - who are you?
I chuckled. I suppose it’s not often that a middle-aged woman with an American accent shows up here looking for tile spacers.
I told him my name, which he recognized. Ah, siete con Martelli, he said, referring to the name of our contractor and noting that he knows my name from his orders. È un piacere. It’s nice to meet you.
An emotional trip to Chianti
In our last newsletter, we wrote about Stefano’s plan to use the staves of old wine barrels to make the ceiling in the dining room, and how he used his wine connections to purchase ten barrels from the Chianti producer Cafaggio.
The morning we were scheduled to rent a cargo van to drive to Chianti to pick up the wine barrels, I awoke to a text message from my friend Molly, letting me know that our dear friend Susan, who had been fighting pancreatic cancer since September, had begun hospice care. It was crushing news.
When Susan was first diagnosed, she told me that she and her sisters had decided to plan a trip to Italy for the fall of 2025, after she’d completed her treatment. It was to be a celebration of sorts, and Susan asked if Molly and I would join them.
Sitting in the passenger seat of our cargo van, driving through the scenic rolling hills of Tuscany, past cypress trees, rows of vineyards, golden wheat fields, and silvery olive groves, I kept thinking that Susan and I were supposed to experience this together. Overwhelmed with sorrow, the tears fell freely.
It was a blazing hot summer afternoon when we arrived at the Basilica Cafaggio winery to collect the barrels. Alessandro, the young enologist who helped us, could not have been friendlier. After he and a colleague helped load the barrels into the van, he invited us inside for a quick tasting of their Chianti Classico wines, along with their Cabernet Sauvignon and Super Tuscan. We bought a few bottles before driving back to Montalcino to unload the barrels, and then onto Siena to return the cargo van.
In the days that followed, while Rio continued to install the bathroom tile, Stefano got to work disassembling the barrels, cutting down the staves, and slowly but surely piecing together the ceiling.
Picking up the pace
As our first week in Montalcino drew to a close, we became increasingly concerned about timelines.
The staircase, which was supposed to have been installed in early May, was still not in. It should be done by the end of next week, they’d told us for several weeks in a row. Until the stairway was installed, we couldn’t take the measurements to finalize the kitchen cabinets and send them into production, and the construction crew couldn't finish the entryway.
The painter can’t get started until the construction crew finishes their work and leaves the jobsite, and the final electrical and plumbing installations can’t take place until the painter has completed the floors, ceilings, and walls.
The August holidays will soon be upon us, and if we can’t get the painter in and out before then, everything will be pushed back at least another month. At this rate, we’ll be approaching Christmas before the house is done.
We reached out to our geometra, Gabriele, and requested a meeting to review the remaining scope of work and construction schedule. He agreed, and after talking things through, he put together an email to our contractor and all of the subs with the proposed timeline:
By June 27, the construction work and electrical wiring will be completed.
The first week of July, the painter will be on site to install drywall where needed, refinish the ceilings, paint the walls, and seal the terra cotta floors. He will need at least three weeks.
By late July or early August, installation of the bathroom plumbing fixtures, electrical outlets, and switches will begin and should wrap up before the August holidays.
The first week of September, following the holidays, interior doors and door trim will be installed. Window trim, screens, and shutters will also go in. Light fixtures will be installed, and all remaining finishes will be completed.
The kitchen is expected to arrive and be installed by mid-to-late September.
Skeptical but relieved to have a schedule in writing, I said, “Va bene! Allora, ordinerò i letti.” I’m going to order the beds. The next time I come to Montalcino, I’d love to sleep in my own house.
That evening, the plumber replied to the email, saying that it would be challenging to adhere to the proposed schedule but adding, “Ci proviamo.” We will try our best.
The next morning, I reached out to my salesperson at the furniture store to ask if they could store the beds for me, just in case they arrived before the house was ready. Certo, he replied. As long as we're talking weeks, not months. I assured him it was, thinking to myself, I hope that’s the case.
One step at a time
The staircase, made of Corten steel and designed to develop a protective patina of rust, finally arrived on Monday, just as we were departing Montalcino. We parked our luggage-laden car and went inside to watch as, section by section, they put the heavy staircase in place.
As we drove back to Rome, we called our kitchen cabinet contractor to let him know that the staircase was in place and to confirm that the taller oven cabinet tower would fit underneath the first few steps—the final measurement needed to send the cabinets into production.
Since returning to Minneapolis, we’ve stayed in regular contact with our contractor and with Rio, who sends us daily updates on the bathroom tile job. Paint colors have been selected and communicated to our painter. We confirmed with the electrician that we want the Wi-Fi-enabled Smart electrical system. All of the light fixtures are on site, and the plumbing fixtures are available for pickup at any time.
We’re already off track from the timeline that Gabriele sent out, but things are moving forward. We know that it takes time and that everyone is doing their best. As Stefano often reminds me, Rome was not built in a day.
Eight days after my friend Susan entered hospice, while we were still in Montalcino, I awoke before dawn to a text message from her husband letting me know that Susan had passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loved ones.
I made a cup of coffee and brought it outside onto the terrace to reflect and gather my thoughts before responding. The sun was just beginning to rise above the Val d’Orcia, illuminating the sky and casting a glow over the valley below. As I took in the beauty of my surroundings, I thought to myself, perhaps Susan did indeed see Tuscany, after all.
About Montalcino
Montalcino is a small, medieval town located about 25 miles south of Siena, 85 miles south of Florence, and 145 miles north of Rome. Perched on a hill in the heart of the world-class Brunello di Montalcino wine-producing region, overlooking the Val d’Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Montalcino offers scenic views of the surrounding countryside's olive groves and vineyards. Visitors come from all over the world to enjoy the town’s cultural events and to experience its wine tourism. It’s long been one of our favorite places to visit.
Pace e benedizioni amico mio!❤️