Altared

A Tale of Renovating a Medieval Church in Tuscany. Kyle Tackwell Ball’s light-hearted memoir about transforming an ancient church in Italy that once served as a way station for Crusaders and religious pilgrims into a livable space—unearthing skeletons in the backyard, encountering mysterious biting bugs, and hosting occasional visitations from a ghostly presence who smoked Marlboro Lights along the way. When Kyle Tackwell Ball’s search for a quaint country home near Florence, Italy, in move-in condition somehow led to the purchase of an abandoned church in a small borgo near Greve-in-Chianti called Le Convertoie, she ended up with much more than a project to overcome her newly contracted “empty nest syndrome.”

Ball soon found herself starring in a “Stones and Bones Classic”; the ruin she’d purchased would require years of renovation and an endless amount of money before it would become habitable. But her journey had unexpected rewards, too: she reconnected with some wonderful friends, made new ones, learned the language of her newly adopted home country, and became experienced in the Italian knack of getting around the system. Most importantly, she learned to appreciate Italian culture, food and wine, and how rewarding it is to give new life to a beautiful old building. 

Ball’s renovation was featured in the March 2010 “Before & After” issue of Architectural Digest, beautifully documented by Kim Sargent of Sargent Architectural Photography.

Pages: 144

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