Tutino is the village where the presence of the Biancolino family, later called Blandolino, has been officially certified since the XVI century.
The building has been obtained from the restructuring of the old family house, keeping its beautiful vaulted ceilings, and it has been enriched by a new construction realised in observance of the local tradition.
In order to obtain energy efficiency and excellent indoor air quality, ecological materials such as natural bricks made from hemp and lime have been used in the erection of the new part.
Traditional buildings from the rural area of Salento, so called “Pajare”, served as an inspiration for the design of a curved exposed stone wall built using a local stone coming from a quarry in Acquarica del Capo.
The first floor is accessible through a suspended staircase made of wood and steel, which is recessed into the wall in the style of the old “Pajare”.
Part of the interior floor comes from the original family house (the old cement tiles, “Cementine”) which was produced by the “Tricase’s bricks factory”, active until the beginning of the XX century. This has then been integrated with new cement tiles, produced by local craftsmen who use traditional techniques.
The interior floor of the new construction is in wood and Trani stone, a limestone tuff with pink hues.
The cultivation of tobacco represented for a long time an important economic resource for the territory. Its farming, harvest and curing involved a vast area and its characteristic colour and fragrance would fill people’s life for two seasons every year. The design of the exterior floor intends to honour this past, by reproducing the different colour shades tobacco leaves had when drying threaded in long ropes.
