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00:01houses are more than shelter the second we walked through the threshold of the
00:09door we both looked up looked at each other this is it yeah this is the space
00:15we wanted to live in the light and we wanted to live in the landscape for us
00:23it was a way to sort of connect my roots and expose our children and continue
00:28that legacy he sort of fell in love with the place and each other at the same
00:36time this building it's a real landmark around here it's an unconventional house
00:44but it's pretty fun the fact is that houses are dreams they're an expression
00:52of who we are and what we believe in
01:07every morning you look out our bedroom windows and you can see the lake and it
01:13just tells you that you're in a very special place in the world we're on one
01:20of the cleanest bodies of water in the state lake west of run set in central
01:25maine
01:29it can be so restful so peaceful it's just beautiful
01:39this lake house is a three-bedroom three-bath cottage its proximity to the
01:47water is special because it's only about 25 26 feet back
01:55everybody that knows us wants to come visit us and the destination is well worth it
02:06i'm john i'm jamie and this is our house on lake west of run set in central maine
02:13so since i was born in the small town of scowhegan i have known this lake my grandparents owned a
02:19cottage
02:19on the lake my aunt betsy and uncle owned a cottage as well i've spent summer after summer here and
02:27the
02:27water the setting the friends the community have just always been a big part of me should we go down
02:33to
02:33the dock now i've been coming to the lake with john for about 22 years and as of 10 years
02:40ago we were
02:41able to buy this house do a huge renovation to it and uh sort of make it our own i'm
02:48really grateful
02:48that it's a place he's taken to it's pretty easy to love oh there's a snapping turtle peeking his head
02:54out
02:55hey little turtle in this region they call cottages camps so this is our little camp it is an expectation
03:05within the state to refer to all seasonal inland properties as camps and so since i was a child
03:11it was always referred to as going up to camp and when you tell people on the west coast that
03:15you're
03:15going to camp they think you're going to day camp or summer camp or kids camp it's not that sort
03:20of
03:24we were very happy to get a lake house on what's called the gold coast of our lake because it's
03:30sunset it's central um the water is beautifully clear and it's a great location
03:39so when we bought the house uh we immediately knew that it was going to be renovated we chose to
03:44go in
03:44the direction of make it feel like it's been here for many decades and we had to make sure that
03:51everything kind of filtered through this camp definition there's so many decisions you have
03:56to make to connotate camp so this is the entry room or the mud room and it is the first
04:09room you come
04:10into when you enter the house it was important that when you walk into the house it's immediately
04:16the lake even though it's the mud room we still want you to be able to see the lake immediately
04:20so
04:21the interior window it then leads to a summer guest bedroom
04:29on this wall there are some window shutters that are from my grandparents camps from back in the 40s
04:35and the 50s there are windows that take you right out to the lake and immediately you get the whole
04:41lake experience because there's the water it's really created in a way to draw the lake into the house
04:50and so we leave the mud room and we go right into the kitchen come on easel
05:01this is all very derivative of the the family camps on the lake when it came time to try to
05:07find a
05:08sink that would feel appropriate our contractor said i think i've got something hiding under my mother's
05:13barn and we went down in the middle of winter while he was renovating and looked under her barn under
05:18some snow was this beautiful 1950s cast iron sink and we said that'll work we had to wait for the
05:26thaw before we could get it though because it was literally frozen to the ground when we bought the house
05:32the ceilings were actually dry walled and coated and uh we opened it all up so that you could have
05:38this open framed feeling to give us a more real authentic camp feel
05:44so when we bought this house there was a wood stove right in the center blocking the lake view
05:51there were bay windows instead of doors so you couldn't access the terrace so it was important for
05:58us to reconfigure the windows and make it all about the lake and created what would look like a enclosed
06:07porch area collecting furniture from different eras was important here so it looked as though we
06:15inherited this camp from grandparents nods to the 40s the 50s the 60s the 70s 40s light fixtures
06:24antique turn of the century dishes to a mid-century modern dining table and chairs
06:32we always place our guests on that side of the table so that they've got the best view of the
06:36lake
06:37absolutely locals sit with their back to the lake guests sit facing the lake
06:48so the living room ends up leading to the staircase to take us upstairs and the interior window is a
06:56nice
06:57little peek into the kitchen and vice versa the kitchen can look in here to the living space but
07:02it kind of lets this small space feel very open at the same time the second floor is a primary
07:10bedroom
07:10a tv area and a full bathroom so we kind of call this the cruise ship bedroom because the expanse
07:20of
07:20windows and the close close proximity to the lake just makes you feel like you're standing on the you know
07:25deck of a ship when we did the renovation we took out some bay windows which sort of cut off
07:32the view
07:32and replaced them with you know this entire set of seven or eight double hung windows to give us great
07:38views of the water and the forest in the distance
07:44back through the house and through the dining room is the deck of gorgeous breeze you know i love that
07:53pretty beautiful
08:00so even though we did a lot of renovation to the house on the interior we were very fortunate in
08:05inheriting this beautiful deck out here the whole goal of it was just to preserve it but turn it into
08:12an
08:12excellent dining spot and lounging area for people
08:19it's just amazing so we're very lucky
08:34it's very gratifying to feel this connection and sort of continue
08:38the legacy if you will of our family having a presence on this lake
08:45and it is a beautiful special place in the world
09:23is
09:24mexico is is plenty of beautiful nature and culture oaxaca is a place where it's inspire me a lot
09:37for me was very specific and very important having a high-end house into a wild beach
09:46because it's a contrast I decide to make absolutely everything in the house I mean
09:53from the furniture to the cup where you drink your coffee so everything is possible because
09:59the clay here is important for this kind of rustic and very beautiful original pottery
10:11it's a beautiful dialogue in between the wild nature and the sophistication of of design
10:28this is Palapa Concreta on the Oaxacan coast of Mexico we have two bedrooms one bathroom
10:38it's an open concept I live in between Oaxaca and Mexico City I come from originally Venezuela
10:50but I left my country because the dictatorship 20 years ago and one of the first places was New York
10:58a political exile looking for a new place but you know missing my country always and looking you know
11:06for a right place for a Venezuelan artist when I first saw the land here was nothing I was the
11:13first one to make a house in this area I came here to this land you know in the middle
11:19of nowhere and
11:19say I want to make very high-end design house with my friend Ana Lazala that she's the architect and
11:26this we start making this this adventure about form love art and architecture
11:42this is the first step to get into the house
11:48the palapa is the roof and the walls in general here we have three different materials
11:56concrete wood and palm gray beige brown
12:06we choose these materials because we're the local ones I came from New York to here to see the process
12:13because I know it's an unique experience watching people knitting a roof knitting a roof this way as they
12:23did it 800 years ago the kitchen for me should be the center of any house for me this is
12:32like the soul
12:33of the house because you got everything that you need you can sit here during a conversation on a
12:39party or a dinner and you can have here with friends and going up and going down going back it's
12:46like a huge
12:47monument for art and creativity
12:51most of my time I have my workshop and my studio in Mexico City but sometimes I come here to
12:59the house
13:00and I normally when I'm in the house I'm working in some projects or a specific project with the clay
13:08from this area
13:09and the structure of the of the clay that is very raw and natural that are very good for modeling
13:24this is a very wild weather area so it's a seasonal house when here winds the winds come everywhere because
13:34the house is open if the rains comes there the rain goes everywhere in a part of the year it's
13:41impossible
13:42to stay here because the hurricanes and the rain one of the most beautiful things about the house is all
13:51the
13:51nature is inside and I can allow and embrace the nature coming into the house I'm not deciding that maybe
14:00this is coming down there is naturally there I'm not you know pushing nature to be in the place where
14:07I want
14:11Here this is the second floor and we have here two rooms
14:30This is the main room
14:37Human is my dog he's an Italian Greyhound that comes from New York and he's the owner of my bed
14:47The way was built the architect Anna she decided to locate the house with this front of the sea because
14:55the air could flow freely around the second floor
15:02You can have here the ocean view and the house garden view
15:14My friend Angie and Louise they always come when I'm here at the house and we love cooking together
15:28She's one of my best friends
15:30She's one of my best friends
15:31Louis is Angie's husband and he's one of the most important people for building this house
15:38He made all the wood on the concrete of the dining room all the furniture and we build the house
15:47together
15:54Here is quiet and I can be in silence with nature
16:08And that's the most important thing for me
16:10As an artist and as a foreigner having a place where I can be free creating and living
16:17And that's the most important thing for me as an artist and as a foreigner having a place where I
16:31can be free creating and living
16:33We walked up the stairs to the top of the Lamia and we looked out and with just the tops
16:37of the olive trees blowing in the breeze
16:41It's like the most quintessential beautiful view of Puglia
16:45And for us that was the moment that we knew we really wanted to buy this property
16:50It's just seeing that incredible landscape
16:55I'm Rebecca Young Riboldi
16:57I am Carmen Riboldi
16:59And I am from Puglia
17:03I'm married to Ricardo Riboldi
17:06And we have two beautiful children
17:08We have Eleonora and Teodoro
17:12They are beautiful little balls of sunshine
17:16And this is Villecardo, our home in Puglia
17:22Villecardo is made up of two buildings
17:24The main house we built from scratch six years ago
17:27It has a living room, a kitchen, and a dining room
17:31Three bedrooms and bathrooms
17:33There's also an outdoor kitchen and living area
17:36The second building at the entrance is Alamia
17:40A 200-year-old ruin which we restored at the same time
17:44To create a one-bedroom, one-bathroom guesthouse
17:48The two buildings sit on an acre of land
17:51Facing each other across this beautiful pool
17:58I know dear Carmen because she is my mother-in-law
18:01I don't feel like being a mother-in-law
18:03She's a friend of mine
18:05She's a very close friend
18:08Yeah, yeah
18:09Being the project manager of a project like this in Puglia
18:13Where my Italian was still in its early days
18:16I definitely needed some help
18:18And so I had to call my mother-in-law
18:21Which I was very happy to do
18:23It was fun and I was really so happy
18:32Up the pathway through the garden
18:36And you just come out of these trees
18:40This is the Alamia
18:41The old ruin that we found when we first came to see the land
18:44Now it's all restored
18:46This would have been sort of an old shepherd's hut
18:49Or farmer's hut
18:52Everything that you see is structurally
18:55Pretty much how it existed when we found it
19:00This building is what influenced everything else
19:03And it influenced the way that we designed Villa Cardo
19:05And how much we really wanted to preserve the original architecture
19:09And feel of this old Pugliese ruin
19:19So as you exit out of the Lamia
19:21You look directly on our pool
19:24Which connects us to the modern villa
19:29Which leads us over to this sort of outdoor living room
19:33And we have this nice built-in couch here
19:35With tons of cushions where, you know, we can come to relax
19:39The kitchen is really nice, beautiful
19:41Nice and big
19:43And I can also see the beautiful landscape
19:46With olive trees while I'm cooking
19:52The raw tomato we must put on top of the pasta
19:55And then also there is a garden
19:57It gives me the idea of what I have to cook
20:00Wow, look at that
20:06When we are together with my family
20:09Wow
20:10When I see my granddaughter
20:12I'm so happy because I know she enjoys cooking with the nonna
20:17With the grandmother
20:20And so for me
20:23It's the best moment
20:24That I have
20:28I am a bit emotional
20:34Mmm, buona kamem
20:44Here we are at the main villa
20:46This is the very front of the house
20:49Of the new home
20:50The modern build
20:51And we enter the home
20:53Right underneath this archway
20:54Right here
20:54We enter immediately into the dining room
20:57Which is a very important part of any Italian house
21:00There's the big arch in this room
21:02And that's really my favorite part of the house
21:04Not only is it beautiful
21:06But it also is a reminder of the ancient sort of building practices of the region
21:16Andrew Trotter was the architect that we worked with
21:18We were drawn to him because you could tell immediately that he had, you know, a very beautiful vision for
21:24the property
21:26That's when we had to get serious and figure out how to coordinate building
21:30You listen to Carmen
21:32Carmen's a powerhouse here
21:34She's like the best project manager we've ever had
21:37This house, it's not perfect
21:39You know, each cube is slightly different
21:41These thick walls help it to be cool in the summer, help it to be warm in the winter
21:46The stone is local
21:50Making the vaults is a traditional way of building here
21:54And they work, it's minimalism from 400 years ago
22:04And then we enter into the living room
22:07We added a few different elements that were already built in
22:10So this couch is made of tufo as well
22:12Not only is it a traditional way of building the furniture in Puglia
22:16But it's also very cost effective
22:18Instead of having to buy this ginormous sofa
22:20All we had to do was provide the cushions
22:24We sit here and we just enjoy each other's company
22:29Here we have the primary bedroom
22:31We have our large bed in the middle
22:35It's actually built in
22:36So when you sleep here, you really feel quite grounded
22:39Like here, one with the land
22:48Up on the roof terrace
22:50We've got this huge panoramic view
22:53360 degrees
22:54You can see, you know, the tops of all of the olive trees
22:58I love to see the sunset
23:02Sunset, for me, gives me something emotional
23:13I love coming up here with, you know, friends, family
23:16The best time for me is at sunset having a glass of wine
23:25This, every day, I usually come up and have this view
23:31That makes me really feel my heart of joy
23:37I just feel really at peace and connected to the land around me
23:43There's nothing more beautiful than a sunset in Puglia
23:46There's nothing more beautiful than a sunset in Puglia
23:50free requests for thetuve
23:58email
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