Thomas Bollay was commissioned to return to a Spanish Revival house that he had designed earlier in his career, and revisit the details and design story that had been left out of the original construction. The original vision was to create an estate home that paid homage to the Moorish designs from the medieval period that found their way to Spain. Columns and carvings would end up being reincorporated into Spanish homes over many generations which made a rich pallet of details in the stone carvings and tile work. QuarryHouse created over 80 hand-carved columns and capitals, along with carved accents, and a grand fireplace. The project was well underway when we arrived so time was a challenge. The team divided the work between QuarryHouse carvers in China and Italy, so our US crews could concentrate on the complex technical drawings and attachment engineering, and the installation. Thomas and the QuarryHouse Team flew to China to work at the factory directly with the carvers as they produced the maquettes in clay, which allowed Thomas to refine the details directly with the carvers. Working from Thomas’s full-scale line drawings sped the work along and enabled us to carve and deliver over 80 pieces of complex carving on time to the US. Meanwhile, our team in Italy was researching the stone and carvings of the great architect, Andrea Palladio, in the Verona area, for the Great Room Fireplace that was to recreate one of the fireplaces of a Palladian Villa.

Project Collaborators
Thomas Bollay Architect
Swartz & Kulpa Engineering