Renovation of the summer house

V Linescio, a small village in the remote Val Rovana valley, a two-hundred-year-old stone building has been converted into a summer house. The structure consists of a basement podium that protrudes from a steep slope. Above the stone base is a simple unheated living space without a water connection, and on top stands a wooden stable with an overhanging roof made of stone slabs. Perpendicular to the stone podium, another wooden structure was added for drying chestnuts. The house had been abandoned for fifty years. During the reconstruction, the original archaic character of the stables was preserved. The decision to use the building only as a summer house allowed for the exclusion of heating, windows, and thermal insulation from the project, keeping the façade in its untouched state. In contrast, the interior was conceived as a separate built-in concrete structure. The inside offers space for basic needs: a living room, sleeping area, fireplace, and bathroom. Concrete was transported inside through the open roof and gradually poured in layers. From the outside, the new building can only be recognized through the glazed garden doors set into a steel frame and the concrete chimney that pierces the stone roof cover. In the neighboring structure, which has been reinforced with steel beams, there is a kitchen and a bathroom that correspond in their simplicity to the overall concept of the house. The modern intervention connects both historical buildings. The original stone masonry in the interior enhances the interaction between the old and the new.