The house was in a bad state and stood empty for 10 years but we saw it had lots of potential.We wanted to use ecological building methods and materials including the installation of a solar hot water system and using lime instead of concrete.

Some of the lovely old limestone had been crudely cemented over causing this crack.We had to carefully chip off this cement by hand.

To clean stone; first remove any loose debris and then throughly wet the stone with a hose.Gently scrub the stone with a soft bristle brush working from bottom to top.Do no use a dry brush.Keep cleaning it in water.Rinse the stone with hose for several minutes.

The links that follow are ones that have been really useful to us although MOST of the sites are in Italian.If you follow the link below you'll find other sites.

bioedilizia

Info on the rennovation of italian buildings

2005

2006

2007

2008
care of old buildings sites in English
click here

click here
repairing stonesite in English
click here
using limesite in English
click here
paying ICI taxsite in italian
click here

click here for english guide
To fill in between old floorboards use a beeswax covered twine instead of wood putty containing chemicals

The lane to the house runs past olive groves and thickly wooded slopes but for some reason there are not so many garden birds .One bird that we do see and hear a lot is the Jay! They are very common here.
solar powersites in English
click here

click here
roof repairssite in Italian
click here
earth buildings in Abruzzosite in Italian
click here
reclaimation in Abruzzosite in italian
click here
castorama (DIY supermaketsite in italian
click here
living off the grid!site in English
click here

Abruzzo's Daily News
il centro

.