Windows and shutters made in Arad open up to the Adriatic coast

The house with the Alps in the back and the Adriatic coastline in front was in an advanced state of disrepair when it was discovered by Adela and Andrew, a Romanian-English couple visiting the Pescara region of Italy. But the area was beautiful and they knew immediately that they had found their retirement retreat. They had been thinking about such a place for years, and lo and behold, it was unfolding before them in all its splendor. What they needed was more skilled people who understood and respected the history of the place. They found them. Among them Holze, who made, in addition to the doors, windows and shutters that fit perfectly to the place, also the customized furniture, the fireplace or the one that dresses the kitchen. The carefully crafted woodwork and attention to detail harmonized perfectly with the perfectly restored 200-year-old house.

Vesta House

The Vesta House - after the name of the Italian owners - was sturdily built, with thick brick walls. Uninhabited for a very long time, it has deteriorated badly and has become a ruin. The walls were bricked up, some even collapsed, the wood of the doors and windows rotted. There was a lot to replace and it took a lot of work to preserve as much as possible of the original appearance of the house. Fortunately, Adela and Andrew had a great help - Adela's mother - Adela's mother - a very good building engineer, a connoisseur of old house restoration techniques, a lady with a very clear vision of quality construction.

Both the house - ground floor and first floor - and the annex have been restored. Seen from the hillside, the house appears to have only a ground floor, the first floor being hidden by a consolidated earth bank on which a brick wall has been built. Between the wall and the house is a corridor of over 1m so that the windows get plenty of light. On the ground floor there is the kitchen, a living room, an office and a hallway with a staircase leading to the first floor, where there are bedrooms, bathrooms and a dressing room. At the front, running the full length of the house, is a wooden terrace supported on brick columns and covered with terracotta tiles, just like the whole house.

In the living room, a brick archway supported by exterior-like columns separates the area near the fireplace from the rest of the room. The fireplace, a modern stove not built into the wall, sits on the site of the house's old stained glass and is topped with a solid wood mantelpiece typical of British fireplaces. The piece of oak, which weighs 30 kg and is over 100 years old, was brought from Romania as reclaimed wood from an old stables. Antique pieces of furniture, in perfect harmony with the built-in book shelves, complete the look of the room.

The living room leads into the classic kitchen, whose centerpiece is a table with a 'sliced' walnut wood. Simple furniture, made of solid oak The bluish-grey coloring blends perfectly with the wood and pastel beige doors. The exit to the terrace is through four large folding glass doors that open fully, linking the terrace to the kitchen. The chandelier above the table, the reclaimed wooden clock, the marine-themed painting, the spice polishes, the antiques and the modern appliances create a magazine-like feel.

The built-in, hallway and kitchen furniture made by the same company that made the windows, doors and shutters

Facing other projects of Holze that I saw, here they came up with something new: built-in furniture in the living room, kitchen and hallway. One of their specialties is refacerea and refurbishing doors and windows in old houses, so making wooden nested frames for very thick brick walls is not unusual for them. Only this time they also made functional furniture.

The two solid oak bookcase bodies on either side of the fireplace were made specifically to fit into the space. The furniture was recessed into the wall, giving the feeling that it had been there forever. The pleasing color, like the doors and window frames, the quality hardware, the carefully crafted details turned these simple shelves into quality furniture.

The simple, elegant lines have been maintained in the hallway and kitchen furniture. However, the color scheme is different, with the furniture in the hallway retaining the yellowish beige of the woodwork and the kitchen furniture moving towards a bluish-grey, in resonance with the large shutters of the folding doors. Seen from outside, the furniture connects the clear sky blue of the shutters with the marine painting on the kitchen wall.

Light blue and beige for doors, windows and shutters

All windows and the kitchen's folding doors have simple wooden shutters painted in a light, summer sky blue by the sea. The color perfectly matches the yellowish beige of the windows, both of which are pastel. The same blue color was also used on the front doors to the house and outbuildings.

The doors, windows and shutters were made by the Holze company from Arad respecting all the technical specifications coming from Italy. All accessories were carefully chosen to match the place and the house. The pattern chosen for the shutters, the accessories, the colors, their harmonization to suggest the closeness to the Adriatic coast. The shutters, with that perfect blue, personalize the house and legitimize its position close to the sea.

Entrance doorand the doors to the annex are made of solid wood painted blue. The front door is glazed and has a hand-beaten wrought-iron grille. The black color of the doorknob sits perfectly against the blue of the door, like the ironwork of the shutters.

A house that is truly a dream come true

The entire process of redoing the Vesta House took almost three years, from 2016 to 2018. It seems like a long time, but looking at how good everything looks and how carefully everything was done to preserve as much of the original house as possible, it doesn't seem so long. Especially since everything has been done carefully and painstakingly, and the result is exquisite.

I have visited Italy many times and have always admired the houses with the terrace on the lawn level, the simple shutters, the perfect blend of brick, wood and stone. Casa Vesta has been rebuilt in this spirit and is the picture of perfection in my view. Everything is harmoniously blended, each combination carefully studied. A dream come true for a couple who wanted to retreat to an oasis of light, harmony and beauty.