London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

An Old Stone Building in Tuscany Becomes a Modern Hideaway

An Old Stone Building in Tuscany Becomes a Modern Hideaway

A clever renovation transforms an irregularly shaped dwelling in Trequanda, Italy, into a tiny retreat that's bursting with character.

In the small, medieval village of Trequanda in Tuscany, Italy, Casa Effegi is an old stone building that was restored and transformed into a cozy, 367-square-foot countryside retreat. Mantua–based Archiplan Studio conducted the renovation, reconfiguring the floor plan and outdoor areas, employing a deck and built-in benches to connect the interior and exterior spaces while maximizing functionality.



Casa Effegi is located at the border of the Tuscan village of Trequanda, tucked between the town center and the surrounding hilly, rural landscape.



The height difference between the entrance at the ground level and the internal courtyard presented architects Diego Cisi and Stefano Gorni Silvestrini of Archiplan Studio with the opportunity to create a wooden deck outdoors.



The living room on the ground floor had an original floor area that follows the form of an imperfect square.

"We think the most unique features of the house are related to the attention paid to details and material," says Silvestrini. "The imperfections became opportunities for small and precise interventions, aimed at redefining the space."



The architects regularized the asymmetry of the longitudinal walls with two lateral, built-in benches that accommodate the spatial discrepancies with their extensions.



For the interiors, the architects used mostly black-varnished steel sheets and durmast wood.



A wardrobe with wooden doors on the first floor bedroom contains and hides the shower and toilet.

Near this wardrobe, just to the side of one of the bedroom windows, a white Vieques pedestal washbasin designed by Patricia Urquiola for Italian brand Agape stands as an isolated element that enhances the visual connectivity between the wash area and the surrounding landscape.

"The challenges were mainly related to the space's small scale, which meant that we had to to find the right balance between the measurements of the old and new features," says Cisi.



While using the washbasin, the owner can enjoy outdoor views. "The 'rarefacted' wooden wall generates a light visual relationship between bedroom and bathroom spaces," says Cisi.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×