This is my 10th newsletter-blog-thingy. I’ve tried to keep the blogs light and brief to (hopefully) not be boring while still explaining what Villa del Vento is and what we are planning/plotting. Cake baking and Tea Parties are just a part of what goes on around here. There are animals and gardens to look after and endless projects from follies to farm sheds. The ultimate goal: to share it with guests.
This month I'll add links to previous blogs to avoid repeating what's been said before... Back in July I started by explaining the name, in August, I mentioned the design of the house, and in January about the construction. Quite a few tea guests have been interested in the ‘history’ of the property and also keen to see beyond the dining room so following on from last month I will continue to fill in some details.
We wanted a big old house out in the country, as many people do, but we couldn’t find anything within our budget that was at all suitable so we decided to build. By we I really mean mum and myself. Dad’s checklist was just enough space for a garden and not too far from the city. He had spent much of his childhood and early adult life in Tuscany and loves the architecture of Italy so I designed the house based on the ‘Liberty’ style Italian villas and the classic New Zealand villas both from around the 1900s, all be it much simplified.
We haven’t had much luck with the Villa though. Our first builder went bankrupt shortly after starting construction and took a good chunk of the budget with him. It wasn’t easy getting it finished after that but thankfully after about 3 years we were finally able to move in - My sisters and I were already in our early 20s and late teens by then. Everything was already tight to begin with so the final house was pared down even more. We would have liked wooden windows to fit in with the circa 1900 style but we settled for ‘pretend’ steel windows (aluminium). My sisters all moved out quite a few years ago but about 3 years ago Alex had moved in and we decided to do some renovations. The idea was to add in some of the bits that mum and I felt were missing: bay windows, a mud room, a dining room big enough to fit the dining table without having to squeeze against the walls to reach your chair; and also some things like corbels and plaster cornices. We were hoping to have it all ready so Alex and I could have our wedding here. As I said in February: it was not ready. Sadly we know how to pick builders! (but that's another story)
It might not be the grand old villa of our dreams and our budget might always be tight but, while it would be fantastic to win lotto and throw a bunch of money at the house, there is joy to be had from making do, finding bargains, recycling old furniture, or building a garden from cuttings and old bricks. The Urn Beds were indeed made this way. They are filling out now and almost look like a real garden. Everything here I grew from seed or cuttings except for a couple of $2 punnets of foxglove, delphinium, and some yellow flowers that I have forgotten the name of.
Last month I posted a few photos which were only a glimpse as we really haven’t finished decorating or even sorting out all of our treasures / junk (depending on how you look at them) Here are a couple more rooms...
The upper hall ceiling I painted as a skylight.
It's been 15 years and I still haven't gotten around to filling in the centre circle with a lattice so that the light doesn't look like it's hanging directly from glass! Last year I made some flower 'beards' for the wall sconces as they were looking a bit modern.
Another of the bedrooms...
During lockdown, since I had no cakes to ice, I decided to ‘ice’ the living room. This is part of my plan to ‘restore the original features’ of the villa. In other words add in details and decorations you might see in a genuinely old (and grand) building. There was quite a lot of plaster left over from the renovations— coving bond, joint compound, finishing compound. I’ve been making up my ‘buttercream’ and ‘sugarpaste’ mixtures and moulding or piping them to create my designs (Using old piping bags and tips of course) Ok, it’s not a masterpiece by a master craftsman but I think it passes.
I made this design in stages, adding to it in layers so it kind of grew. It is in the slightly mad Art Nouveau style seen in Liberty villas. When I do the central hall I will plan it out before I begin for a more ordered and restrained look. There's a fine line between quirky and just plain weird. I think I got a bit close to the edge with this one.
Meanwhile back in the kitchen...
Dad has made more jam. He seems to be the official preserves chef this year, which I think is marvelous. April saw him create quince jelly, bright crimson crab apple butter out of tiny red crab apples, clear jelly out of the larger crab apples, and also preserved peaches.
And I decorated one whole cake this month, for an essential worker, on her birthday - Alex left it on his sister’s door step, rang the bell and ran back to the car for safe social distancing!
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