14. We've Broken Ground!

It’s fall in Tuscany and the views are now even more beautiful at Borgo Santolina.

The retrospective planning application for Villa renovations was submitted back in May and they have been grinding through Italian bureaucracy. We hired a builder, finished the renovation plans with our architect but until we receive the stamp of approval from the municipality we’re stuck waiting. The good news is we were able able to start renovating the pool last week. As an outdoor structure it falls under different rules which allowed us to break ground last week.

Demolition of the old pool decking and draining the pool to remove the liner

All clean and ready for pool shell repair work

There were many complexities to sort through with the pool project. The real estate was acquired in the auction but not the prior business so the team needs to apply for a new pool permit instead of being grandfathered in. This requires compliance with the latest regulations which have changed quite a bit since the pool was built 25 years ago.

Some make sense like adding safety features to prevent swimmers from getting sucked into the drains and that pool water must be filtered every 3 hours. But we also have to build a extra wall in the pool so that we have 50% of the edges allowing water to “flow over”. We already have an infinity edge but apparently we need 2 infinity edges in our region.

To achieve the water filtration requirement, we must replace all the pool equipment - pumps, valves, filters, dispensers, feeders etc. This is a disappointing as this equipment had been replaced not to long ago and is in good condition, but the upside is the pool will have very clean water.

We are also replacing the pool liner and adding a winter cover. Liner’s are standard in Europe and slowly making their way to the US. It took us a while to give up our idea of using natural stone inside the pool, but after seeing the cost and learning about the maintenance and other potential issues, replacing the liner was the best choice. They come in many designs and we chose “Prestige” - here is an example:

Other improvements include a new travertine pathway to the pool, an expanded pool deck with new travertine tiles and a new outdoor shower. The loungers and other outdoor furniture are being replaced and a large shaded pergola with seating and a bar at one end of the pool is being custom built. Since we’re removing the liner and doing other masonry work, we decided to add a “Baja shelf”, new integrated steps and swim lane for our lap swimming guests

The farming operations are in full swing. An agriculture company has been hired to prepare and plant 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of lavender by the river in the old cow pasture. We have opted to be a biologico (organic) farm, so this comes with some additional requirements but we should have lavender in the ground shortly.

It’s also olive harvest time. We have Leccino, Moraiolo, and Frantoio olive varieties. Next week Angelo and Marco will start harvesting the olives and pressing oil. We’ll report back how it tastes