The History of Casa Gisella

The main part of Casa Gisella dates back more than 100 years and like many properties in Italy has been added to over the years to become its current state.

We acquired the house in 2005 after we fell in love with Bastia and the incredible view from the house. Back then it was a chestnut barn, a cellar and a much smaller house. It used to belong to the property next door, but was split up many years ago to provide additional accommodation. Until 2004 the house was habited although in a poor state needing complete renovation. In 2006 we undertook to restore the house and use both the barn and cellar as living spaces to provide a comfortable and traditional home, yet containing all the modern conveniences.

Throughout the restoration we have encountered the unexpected and surprising as we uncovered the old stone work, tried to dig into the solid stone of Bastia, or saw the original roof timbers and structure.

Here is a selection of photographs of the house as it was and during the work.

Here is the living room looking to the kitchen after the stone window surrounds were put in and the first coat of paint was put on the walls.	This is the barn/master bedroom after the roof was taken off - thankfully the stone was stronger than it looks. You can see the holes where the original beams were. Unfortunately we were unable to salvage these.
This is the high window in the barn/master bedroom after the stonework was pointed - one of the first signs of nearing completion...	This is a high view into the barn/master bedroom showing the finished ceiling and doorways. You can see the height of the ceiling and the electrics just installed.
Here is the stairway from the living area to the upper floor with bare walls and floor.	Unfortunately there weren't too many areas of stone inside that we were able to restore, but this was a good area in the hallway, the first that was completed.

 
We would like to say that we carried out the work on Casa Gisella ourselves, however we are nowhere near skilled enough to do so. Here are the details of the professionals who were involved in this loving restoration. We will happily recommend each of them and please contact us is you want more information.

    Engineer and plans: David Collins
    Project Manager: Pietro Cerutti
    Builder: Beppe Braccelli, B.V. Edilizia. Click here to visit the B.V. Edilizia website

We hope you enjoy Casa Gisella as much as we do.,

Ronnie and Alison