The current submission has two planimetric options for suggestion, depending on the possibility of including an additional staircase or not. The first option includes a secondary staircase in the eastern chamber of the house, thereby resulting a more private circulation which can gather all the private/ technical functions ( laundry , pantry, etc) linking them to the private floor but keeping them somehow in the center of the house, in which case they are easy accessible from anywhere ( no need to walk larger distances with the sheets etc.) This solution is inspired by the great old mansions that in order to be kept clean had a staff behind and architecturally speaking a special distribution of paths and spaces so that "staff" , owners and visitors do not interfere with each other in an unpleasant way. Anyway this solution creates bigger, better illuminated bedrooms at the second floor and smaller hallways, and wasted space. The second solution does not include any more staircases, the storage and laundry are separated and located both at the second floor, where they are mostly needed. The private floor ensures large bedrooms and a study , being well suited if the house is used as a vacation house. The hallway at the second floor serves as well as a circulation and as a storage , leaving the closets and storage spaces outside the bedrooms in order to leave the chambers spacious. In the garden near the kitchen there has been proposed a summer kitchen with link to a cellar. The intention to keep the cellar outside the house resulted from the problem of digging beneath the house, which can be pretty hard to do, to hidro-insulate and can rise problems linked to the house's foundation. Anyway, the cellar is in the very next proximity to the kitchen. On the other hand, the laundry room comes very handy being inside the house, because there will be large amounts of sheets and laundry to be cleaned.Adjacent to the summer kitchen is a summer living-room. A room which can be opened by sliding panels towards the terrace. This room can come in handy if the outside temperature is to high in the afternoon, time by which the panels can be closed for a couple of hours leaving a cool room in the center of the yard. This volume plays with the flexibility of spaces: enclosed & covered, partially enclosed & covered, open & covered, open. These kind of spaces can be translated into cool, sunny and shaded, offering a larger amount of possibilities in accordance of the weather.
Linked to the dining terrace ( which has been covered, in order to shelter the guests at the table from an unexpected rain), there is a shaded terrace placed underneath a green pergola,just near the sunbathing area in front of the pool. This kind of spacial organization is well suited for pool parties, barbecues, culinary gatherings or just some relaxing afternoons in the sun.
The backyard is envisioned to be as green as possible leaving a band for the vegetable garden. The vegetable garden, together with the eventually secondary staircase and the parking lot create a technical path, including all "housekeeping" functions alongside. The parking space is near the eastern room in order to leave a bigger garden on the front side of the house and is covered by another pergola in order to keep the cars protected without creating any more constructed space.
For the interior design, the idea of modern has been kept but taking into consideration the historical value of the house, the intention was to respect that rather than to create o total opposing interior design. The option was towards a rustic, traditional modernism, the kind of modern movement at its beginning. Being also inspired by old italian mansions that inspire a kind of romantic air with loads of vegetation and stone, we added up the modern thinking with the rustic and the nature and ended up to a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired design. It has its uniqueness and ads a boost of warmth to the colder elements already existing ( stone walls, tiled floor , large rooms). In order to gain a warmer look the use of wood, plants and warm colors is to be taken seriously into consideration. The option leans thereby towards a more like outside kind of furniture in order to "team-up" with the flooring. The kind of furniture proposed is not very expensive, may need some custom adjustments like a lacquer and a custom covering for cushions. Anyway if the house works as a B&B, expensive furniture is not to be advised because it can be easily damaged.