Once upon a time there was a toulà
in Cortina d’Ampezzo
A large family looking for a vacation home in Italy’s Dolomite range. Two apartments joined together open on to a spectacular view.
This large space under the eaves with a panoramic view over the entire valley of Cortina d’Ampezzo realized the dream of a family with three children and a wide circle of friends. Reflecting VP Architetti’s spirit of practicality, the plan called for joining two apartments in such a way that they could be re-separated in the future if called for. When VP Architetti found it, this traditional stone house with its attached wooden hayloft was about to be demolished, permitting a total overhaul from bare bones construction to the last detail of interior decoration. VP Architetti worked with their team of traditional artisans to produce features such as the custom headboards, stone sink, and mirrors, which showcase the craftsmen’s ability to realize the client and architect’s personal visions down to the last detail.
Furnishings and materials, many repurposed, reflect a preference for the refined simplicity of Oriental forms that harmonize with the mountain atmosphere.
Fabrics, hides, and leather, horn and metal hardware and handles add to the effect.
The wood selected in the sawmill for the paneling and beams was also used to finish areas under the lower side of the sloping roof, creating continuity with the rest of the home. This created ample space for covered radiators, storage drawers and easily accessible shelves for books and personal objects.
Everything in this apartment is the fruit of careful study: Personalized bins with family members’ names made of antique Chinese rice measures that hang from a rail in the entry, roots found in the woods that have been transformed into handles or Chinese laundry boards repurposed into headboards. Other personal touches are found in the early twentieth-century sporting art, the antique toys, the variety of Chinese brushes and the trees painstakingly assembled from pieces of bark, piece by piece.