Stone House in Ticino
- Sabine Drey
In most cases a badly decayed old stables with a barn attached to it would be abandoned to its fate. This example, built from local random rubble, stands at an altitude of 1000 metres between Lake Lugano and Lake Como in the cultural landscape of Ticino. In this region agricultural buildings with their characteristic walls and roofs of gneiss are under a strict preservation order and may not be demolished without first obtaining permission. As very few farmers can be found who wish to use and maintain these buildings, a regulation allows what are known as the rustici to be converted into holiday homes or dwellings - even outside residential areas. But conversions are subject to several restrictions. For instance: the appearance of the external shell must be retained completely unchanged.
