Tuscan farmhouses: history and architecture
History of Tuscan country houses
The old country houses are the result of construction activities unrelated to a common matrix or encoded style, but they are often the result of a not designed housing with different shapes from area to area. The typical forms are differentiated in various regions such as the Versilia and Lucca, the Chianti, the Arno and the Siena countryside. In the second half of the eighteenth century there was a progressive development of rural housing through increased attention to the lives and work of farmers and sharecroppers and the derivation of new types of houses based on an actual architectural design. The new models of rustic farmhouses and manor houses are inspired by the architecture of Renaissance villas. Thus there is a fairly widespread convergence in the style of new construction as well as for renovations of existing cottages.
Architecture and materials of Tuscan farmhouses
The harmony of proportions that characterize the current architecture of the farmhouses are therefore due to the influence of the Renaissance, where the balance of volumes of the Tuscan farmhouses is a prime example of the balance between functional requirements and identification culture.
Among the most typical architectural elements of the Tuscan farmhouses we can find the round arch, which is used in external porticoes, balconies, doors, windows and interiors and whose remaining stones or bricks in the walls are often witnesses of ancient openings.
The outer stair is undoubtedly another typical element of the Tuscan farmhouse, in addition to its obvious purpose of linking the different levels of the building, it had a precise aesthetic function in giving movement to the facade, feature even more clear when the ramp is surmounted by porticoes.
Another characteristic feature is the dovecote, a towering body found in various shapes and sizes in a central position on the roof, first used as a shelter for doves, then for drying the grapes or for silkworms breeding. Normally, the ground floor was used as barn and cellar, while the home itself was located upstairs, with a large kitchen in central location on the floor dominated by the fireplace, the true focus of the house.
With regard to the materials, the walls are made of masonry with the use of stone, gravel and bricks. On the ground floor the pavement was usually made of stone slabs, while upstairs it was covered by cotto or bricks. The roofs were supported by exposed wooden beams and covered by roof tiles, the classic terra cotta tiles.
