LANDSCAPING & ARCHITECTURE
A Hut Fit For An Italian King
A small vintner’s estate in Italy? No, but it is the idea behind this one near Jasper, Georgia.
The owner, a friend of ours, warmed to the idea and a plan was hatched to be executed in four phases. Vines would be planted first, followed by an avenue with an end folly, flanked by trees. We would then draw and build a shepherd’s hut, built in exactly the same way they have been built in Italy for ages: split bars in front of casement windows built into the masonry, stone walls, large plank doors with ring handles, interior plastered walls, beams and a roman tile roof, installed by a Frenchman, used to doing it in the traditional way – no nails or chips.
INSTALLATION NOTES
From Wine Cellar to Roof Top
Before putting on the roof, the hut was left open to the elements for several weeks to allow the rain to age the plaster on the stone walls inside, as well as the beams, and when we judged the time to be right, the roof went on and voila! The next phase includes a wine cellar in a crumbling structure, surmounted by a villa to the rear. As you can see, our friends are doing a fabulous job with the plantings and they are making good progress in the production of their wine for which we had the pleasure to draw the label for their bottles.
