Aldo Bernardi Lighting- Sigh...Tuscany.

Last week when I was looking at the blog Remodelista (my ultimate source for cool stuff) to find sites selling goose neck lighting  for the barn, I came across Aldo Bernardi lighting.  I was directed to the US distributor's web site Ollier Distributors http://www.carolollier.com/catalog/index.php.  There I spent a very long time staring at what I think to be the most beautiful rustic lighting I've ever seen.  It brought me back to a trip to Tuscany I took a few years ago.  If you haven't been to Tuscany- you must go.  Especially if you love great scenery.  We would joke "now there's another crappy view" at all the surreal bucolic vistas that you see in the little Tuscan villages. Now that I think about it I have some pictures.... funny I must have been thinking a lot about gutters when I was in Italy.  Who takes so many pictures of gutters?  I am sure we will revisit the gutter theme again when we get that far with the project.  But until then enjoy these nifty old gutters.

 And now for some of that crappy scenery- these are not postcards!

This road is well known but I can't remember where it is.

Fienzole

Garden center in Volterra

Beautiful isn't it?

Now, while Aldo Bernardi is not from Tuscany, he is from an area Northwest of Venice.  He works meticulously with brass and copper.  Each piece is hand crafted by local artisans.  It is really beautiful.  We particularly like the lights with the wavy shades.

Above barn door?

A little nautical look

How about these over the kitchen counter or center island???

Over side door of barn?

Simply elegant!

Are you getting the sense that I like rust?  I think I may be.....

Mud!

It sure is muddy out there! 

Pendant Lights

I can see that there will be a number of places in the house and barn where pendant lights will be perfect. My studio is the obvious place for a few industrial pendants since I will have the nice cathedral ceiling.  The kitchen is another place that I think they would be good.  However the ceilings in the kitchen will be quite low.  I'm sure that with a short cord they will be OK.

Here is a selection of some really neat pendant lights collected from various blogs.  The first three remind me of rusty Elizabethan collars- I can see a dog faced light bulb???  These are mood pictures- I will eventually have a posting about lights that I can actually buy.  The really neat Restoration Hardware light I would get though....

The next are small white drops.

These lights are just cool and clever-

Restoration Hardware

Sometimes you just need to look-

Siding going onto the barn- Dave's bank of windows

Just gorgeous!

Windows from inside in my studio

progress on the foundation

In a nutshell...

The composition of this picture tells the whole story in a nutshell.

Bob set the little purple digger in a perfect spot for a picture!

Here are some pictures of the windows that Peter, his son and Shane made for the barn.  They are really beautiful and we are so lucky to have such talented people working on this project!  I can't wait to see them installed. 

They installed one window so we didn't die of anticipation to see how they would look. 

One installed in Dave's workshop.  Looks great!

The Tyvek sheathing the barn makes it look like a big present.  Add a bow and who could ask for a better gift!

 All it needs now is a bow!

A charming bit of Tripp history

The best part of having a home with a lot of history is that you never know what has happened in the past at your house.  You feel bonded to the house like it is yours and yours alone.  That no one else ever lived there before you. You know from the layer upon layer of wallpaper that were removed over the years, the tile counter tops that are the aggravation of a lifetime and the funny pass through from the bedroom to the hallway so that you don't have to negotiate the beam that runs across the staircase, that some one else did in fact live here.  All the things that are not of your taste or doing were done by someone else.  There have been many previous tennants of the Tripp house since 1775, some I know and most that are long since gone.

Over the summer one such previous owner (I know her as a customer but had no idea that she ever lived at this house) gave us a charming painting of our house done in 1981 by Marian Dock. She passed away last August at the age of  99.  Marian lived in the house at the far end of our property and was apparently a prolific painter!  We were thrilled to receive such a wonderful folksy painting of the house back before much had been done to the far end.  Since this was painted past owners have put in French doors and a sunroom replaced the screen porch.  Now the current project will change the house yet again. 

Summer at the William Tripp House

Last week I was reading the local paper and saw an article about Marian and a picture of the painting shown below- the winter scene.  Now, Marian was apparently quite a lady and I would have liked to have met her.  Education was important to her so part of her estate was designated to further education.  The painting is part of a month long exhibition at the Deep River Public Library that includes more than of her 30 works.  The sale of Marian's artwork will benefit the eductional programs at the library.  Naturally, we have purchased the winter scene below.  How could we not?  I think a 3rd painting should be in the works for after the house is completed to finish off the series.  Since Marian is no longer available I think that Alicia Melluzzo of Deep River would be a perfect artist for the commission.  Alicia did a wonderful watercolor of our shop (and mural) and I have a growing collection of her small paintings.

Winter at the Tripp house



We're lucky to have a little bit of house history that we never knew existed until recently!

Yikes!

Lots going at the house this week.  A rain day yesterday on account that the rain and wind was coming from every angle but a lot of progress has been made nonetheless.  Bob and the little purple digger are back and going to town digging a huge hole outside the back door.  The stump from the black walnut tree has come out.  Check out the size of of that sucker!

Holy cow ...that's one hell of a stump!

Watch that first step... it's a doozey!

The fence has been reconfigured to allow for Bob's dump truck to come in and out and a second secure area for the dogs to roam.  The dog part has been a challenge for us.  To take the beasts out we now have to go out the front door and then walk them on leashes around to the gate and the fenced in yard.  Now, try to take 3 jumping pooches out at one time- no way.  So each morning I have to take them on their own personal outing.  After a few days I have learned to feed them fast before taking them out. The other night I was jolted out of bed by Dave who announced that the dogs had run away.  How could that have happened?  Well, normally Dave has good command of the dogs, they seem to listen to him (not to me. no one listens to me)- anyway, he opened the door and off they went into the darkness.  Jet black dogs in pitch black night.  A recipe for disaster.  Out into the night I flew calling Pip.... Coal... nothing.  Dave went out in the car to look.  I called time after time.  I was a nervous wreck.  At long last I see Coal trudging up the driveway wagging his tail.  Relief!  But where was Pip?  I called again.... looking up and down the street...... just then I see the little body running towards me.  Relief again.  We are all in the house breathing hard. But where was Dave?  Eventually I heard the car pull up and the door open.    I made him promise never to take them out without a leash again!  Since "the incident" all has gone smoothly.

The barn is really taking shape.  The second story is so- 3 dimensional and today when I got home I have the outline to the roof.  It is very cool.  It is really spacious and the ceiling so high.  That's great when you live in an antique house with low ceilings.  I will have 2 skylights, that according to Peter will have a remote control opener and moisture sensor.  How high tech.  That's great since I don't need to be calling Dave every day to have him check the iron and the the skylights.  The iron is enough I think.

Looks like one of those toys you have to put tab A into slot B...

Lots of windows!

Temporary stairs to the studio.

Dormer taking shape

My own window on the kingdom

So cool!

Opening for staircase

Windows overlooking chicken coop

So happy.....