Esino Essentials

Initial Remodeling

The house at v. Adamello, 34, in Esino Lario was built about 1930.  Early on it had a large water tank and pump in the cellar to hold water and the original drawing show some kind of septic tank.  Upgrades to the EL sewage and water systems made these house facilities unnecessary.

The house was built as 2 separate apartments, one above the other with a common entrance.  Each apartment had a kitchen, bathroom, 2 bedrooms and a dining room.  We wanted to keep only the downstairs kitchen.

When we bought the house the bathrooms were as they had been installed, probably in the 40's or 50's.  No tiles, tubs but no showers.  We had both bathrooms and the remaining kitchen remodeled.

There were 5 wood burning stoves to provide heat.  Wood is the dominant form of heat locally and provides employment for a number of families.  The house had been used only as a summer house so it had limited provisions for the winter.  We had a propane fired heat and hot water system added to each floor.  A 1600 liter propane tank was buried near the house.  In the winter this would be consumed in a few weeks.  Expensive.

2004 Modifications

Early in 2004 we had Giorgio Viglienghi, our neighbor, mason and prime contractor for house work, install 2 inches of urethane foam insulation to the attic.  The walls are 1/2 m of stone and cement, not very insulative.  The windows were single glazed.  The roll-down shutters were reasonably thick wood and provided some insulation when closed in the winter.  Each shutter piece is about 3 cm wide with a potential 1 cm gap between pieces.  This is particularly nice in the summer as it lets air through and keeps flies and bees out.  Unfortunately, the wood has deteriorated with age and these will gradually be replaced with thick urethane-filled aluminum shutters.

Terraces

There is a terrace above each entrance.  Over time the floors of the terraces have developed leaks that have damaged the plaster ceilings of the entrances below.  We had the old terrace tiles and substrate removed and replaced with a tar barrier and weather resistant tiles.  Also the walls around the terraces were deteriorating so we had these capped with copper. June.

South terrace next to office before work.   North terrace after work.  August 14.

Shutters

A couple good things about Italy: pranzo or lunch and an after lunch nap.  In big cities and big companies lunch is treated much like the US with a short lunch break.  But in smaller cities and towns the lunch break is 2 or 3 hours so you can go home, have lunch, and take a nap.  We have our big meal at lunch and then, drowsy from a glass of wine, I lie on the bed and nap for an hour.  In the summer with the shutters partially down and the light filtering through the gaps there is a very pleasant green glow through the window as the breeze moves the leaves and they flicker between bright and dark green.  Modern shutters do not have large gaps like this.  Here are a couple pictures of the bedroom windows in the afternoon.