Feb 3, 2025

Italian Country House renovation project step by step

In this series of posts, we want to take you through the journey that led us to renovate an Italian country house and then extend it.

We’ll guide you through each phase of the project, sharing technical details and design choices. In this first post, we’ll provide a general overview of how we developed the project, while in the following ones, we’ll delve into every aspect of the Italian country house renovation, with a particular focus on the interiors and the solutions adopted.

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The Setting: A House in the Italian Countryside

The building is located in the Italian countryside, not far from Venice. The area is characterized by a rural landscape with vast agricultural fields and low-density housing. Small clusters of homes or isolated houses, like the one we are working on, dot the region.

The original building sits on a spacious rectangular lot, set back about 20 meters from the access road to the south. This location ensures peace and a direct connection with the surrounding natural landscape.

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The Original Building: A 1970s Italian country house renovation

The property was a rural building built in the early 1970s, with a layout typical of the Italian countryhouse style of that period. The original layout included:

  • A semi-basement with reduced height, used for utility rooms and not intended for living spaces.
  • A raised main floor with a large terrace and a porch—architectural features common in rural Italian homes from that era.

The primary goal of our intervention was to transform the building into two independent housing units, optimizing the existing structure for better sustainability and more efficient use of space, while providing comfortable living accommodations for two families. Because of the size of the existing building, in fact, we immediately decided to not construct a new house from scratch, but instead we opted for a sustainable approach that preserved as much green space as possible and minimized land consumption.

To create the second housing unit, we decided to close the west-side porch and do a comprehensive renovation of the building. Fortunately, the original layout was not difficult to be divided into two new functional spaces.

|| Discover more: 10 features of Italian style interiors 

 

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The New Layout : Italian country house renovation step-by-step 

After analyzing the existing distribution, we identified a solution that allowed for a balanced division of the existing spaces:

  • Raised Floor: The entrance, kitchen, living room, and enclosed porch were assigned to Housing Unit No. 2, while the bedrooms, bathroom, hallway, and internal staircase remained part of Housing Unit No. 1.
  • Semi-Basement: The tavern, heating system room, and storage were designated for Housing Unit No. 2, while the tool sheds and a bathroom were allocated to Housing Unit No. 1.

A significant change involved transforming the master bedroom of Housing Unit No. 1 into a spacious open-plan kitchen and living area, taking advantage of its generous size. Naturally, this modification required specific upgrades to the building systems.

 

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First Step: Energy Efficiency and System Upgrades

Once we finalized the new layout, we began the first step of renovation works. We focused on improving the building’s energy efficiency, as it originally lacked any thermal insulation. Together with this, we also updated the outdated technological systems.

Then, we adopted an approach by steps, first working on one area of the building in order to complete the first housing unit, before moving then on to the second one.

Among the first interventions, we replaced all the old window frames. These included the roller shutter boxes with new thermal-insulated casings to eliminate thermal bridges, by also slightly widening the window openings. Additionally, we created a new entrance for housing unit No. 2, with a new structural intervention and by installing a metal reinforcement frame to ensure the building’s stability. To improve thermal insulation, we installed a drywall lining with insulation panels and space for utility conduits, complementing it with an external insulation system to achieve the required performance levels.

For the new windows, we chose wood-aluminum frames, combining the warmth and elegance of wood inside with the durability and weather resistance of aluminum outside.

 

Italian Country House renovation, step 01

 

This is just the first part of our story. In the upcoming posts, we’ll share detailed insights into our renovation journey of an Italian country house – including the interior spaces, aesthetic and functional choices, and the additional steps taken to complete the project.

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