Buongiorno a tutti!
First I need to tell you, I am so fucking excited to see my designs come to life in this space! I have designed, ‘flipped’, and sold numerous properties but there is something very special about my first home in Italy. Now, yes, it’s more of an investment than and actual ‘home’ as my partner and I have ‘ chosen’ not to live in the space full time.. but it is still my home! I truly cannot wait for you to see the finished design.
It has been a few months since I have posted an update. In that time I have been working on finalizing my design plans and choosing which construction team I would like to work with. I chose Bufalino Construction & Design based in Ostuni, Italy. The company is owned by an American and it really helped that Davide Bufalino speaks English. Even though I am trying to Learn Italian, I am not advanced enough in my Italian to attempt a home renovation.
Demolition of the interior space has commenced and plumbing installation has began. The space is still very raw but you can visualize the floor plan now. Originally this space was two separate properties (at least when I bought it). The two individual spaces have been combined via a new internal door from the staircase leading to the prima piano. To me, the flow of the space is perfect and its hard to believe this was not part of an original design.
Below I will detail the home by floor:
Primo Terra
As you enter the front door, you will have access to a staircase leading up to the ‘primo piano’ (first floor) or a door way to the right that leads to the ‘Piano Terra’ or ground floor.
In the stairwell we will leave the stone walls exposed as well as the ceilings that you can see are already finished.
This is the doorway to the right of the entryway that has been carved out of the stone. This is the view from the living room. As you can see from the picture, there is also a gas line in this area that will be reconfigured to another location.
When you step down and go through the new door from the entryway, you enter into my living room. Here all the pipes for the new plumbing converge. You can see the cuts in the floor that will allow me to add a modern kitchen on the primo piano, and three new bathrooms, plus convert and original bathroom to a laundry area.
In the living room I will maintain some of the exposed stone. From what you see in the image above, most of the walls will actually be plastered to blend with the plaster ceiling as I want to keep the original molding and ceiling cap here. The stone that will remain exposed will be accent walls or around doorways.
The living room allows you to enter the Ground floor bedroom, ground floor Bathroom, and small kitchenette that I will actually setup as a bar. The kitchenette leads to an outdoor courtyard.
Ground floor bedroom
The ground floor bedroom will most likely be the bedroom used by me when visiting Ostuni. This room will remain plastered over. The exposed stone you see now was due to moisture problems and the old plaster pulling away from the walls.
Ground floor bathroom
The bathroom on the ground floor will have a sunken tub that I cannot wait to sit and soak in after a night out in Ostuni! I absolutely love how deep it is.
In the images below you can see the tub layout and the toilet plumbing being installed. The sink will be on the wall to the left in the alcove.
Kitchenette / Wetbar
Here I will have a small ‘kitchenette’ that will mostly be used as a Wetbar. I have restored a carpenters bench that will be placed in this space.
I am choosing to leave most of the stone exposed in this area also as I love how the stone is placed together.
In this area we removed the faux wood ceiling to elevate the room and added a window above the door to bring in more natural light. I am hoping this window will be operated by a transom bar as I really love this vintage detail.
You can also see the small courtyard at the back of the kitchenette that I will place a small fountain and table to enjoy as a breakfast or smoking area.
Primo Piano
On the piano primo currently not much changed here. The walls were in good condition so the plaster did not need to be stripped. The biggest change so far is the door way being sealed up.
That door will be reopened in bedroom two. This space will be the ensuite bathroom to bedroom two.
The main room of the piano primo will be the kitchen and dining room. The original bathroom of the home I am converting to a utility room. This room will hold the washing machine, dishwasher and a sink.
For dinner parties, this space will have a great flow. As I believe the kitchen is a modern place to entertain. Once the food is done and its time to clear the table, the plates and dishes will go into their own space so the ‘mess’ will be out of site and the party can continue. Cleanup should never ruin a good dinner party! 🥂
Secondo Piano
As we head up the stair case to the secondo piano you will see more exposed stone. I decided the stairwell walls will stay exposed as I love the rustic vibe here. I have also chosen to keep the rustic stone steps vs placing marble or resin over then. The grand rooms will have more of a modern palazzo feel with smooth plaster walls.
There are some changes to the layout that have occurred here. From this staircase we exposed another exterior door. Originally this stairwell took you to the kitchen and dining room and had a door to the terrace in that room. I am using the secondo piano as a third bedroom. Because of this, I did not like having to access the bedroom to exit to the roof.
When we started demolition here, we realized this door and an extra staircase leading to the roof terrace already existed 🤘🏻! This was a huge deal! It helped with the flow of the home so you no longer need to access the terrace via the third bedroom. Again I was very happy with this.
One of the items my contractor recommended was to increase the ceiling height at the top of the staircase exit. I am over six feet tall (193cm). I would hit my head on the existing roof lol… So, Davide raised the ceiling height here almost two feet.
At the top of the staircase is my third bedroom. This room I decided that I wanted to expose the stone everywhere. You can see the ceiling has been completed for this room. The walls still need to have electrical done before they can be finished.
The last major change for the home is the rooftop terrace. Here we will have an outdoor kitchen and dining space. The upper terrace will no longer be completed in phase 1. The upper terrace and potential roof top pool will be completed in phase 2 assuming the ‘commune’ approves the plans.
Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts about the floor plan update, in the comments.
Warning , Davide is a theif a con artist and a scoundrel he hasn’t finished anything and has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars
You don’t have to be anonymous. I 100% agree with you. He is a thief. This project has been on hold going on 3 years and a pending lawsuit because of Davide Bufalino. Once I’m motivated to type an update I’ll have everything on the blog. If you want to discuss more or contact our attorney please WhatsApp me at +39 348 4515829