BEFORE THE ARCHITECT – BLUEPRINT HOME DESIGN CONSULTANTS

TUSCANY HOME DESIGNS

TUSCANY STYLE: TUSCANY TRIM 

Comment:  From cornice to baseboard, at the simple extents of Tuscany trim, there are distinctive surprises. 

·        Tuscany trim molding of any sort may be presented by way of . . .

o       Painted highlights

§         Flat to walls, some made to appear with depth by shading  

§         In lieu of solid, fastened features on walls

§         Following a similar appearance of footprint to those displaced solid features, notably . . .

Ø      Cornices

Ø      Casings

Ø      Baseboards 

·        Tuscany trim molding of any sort may be presented by stencils or stencil-like art . . .

o       In lieu of solid features on walls

o       With coatings correctly applied or with a similar appearance, notably . . .

§         Cornice

§         Baseboards

o       In less, the same, or greater extents of coverages than the displaced features 

·        Tuscany trim can mean no trim

o       Of any sort

§         Solid

§         Else

o       Need be presented, e.g.

§         A wall’s finish may run tight to abutting ceiling and floor

§         Casings may be absent in lieu of smooth finish to walls and jambs 

·        Tuscany trim wood cornice, casings, and baseboards

o       May be presented in simple formats of thin or thick flat stock

§         Alone or

§         Of thin or thick flat stock with a companion backband, bedmold, basecap, or such

§         Casings are

Ø      Butt-jointed

Ø      Rough-sawed or smooth

Ø      Correctly finished 

·        Tuscany trim panel

o       Particularly as wainscoting

o       Without chair rail or other cap

o       May be of

§         Flat stock

§         Butt-jointed

§         Over rectilinear ground

§         In extended or relaxed format

§         All around in the intrados of interior, arched passages

§         Unelaborated and uncomplicated profile

§         Usually closed with varnish over wood darkened with age or stain 

·        Aside, but not too far aside

o       Roman arches are often elaborated with

§         Imposts

Ø      Need have been no more than a thin masonry outcrop, or reveal into the passage

Ø      Wrapped onto the walls at the springline 

·        Tuscany trim, arched passages

o       Unelaborated and uncomplicated profile

o       Often closed with varnish over wood darkened with age or stain

o       Sometimes trimmed in paint

o       Interiors may be paneled overall (in the English style, wrapping from floor line to floor line all around)

§         May be Roman

§         May be a foreshortened Roman, i.e., not all of the semicircle is presented

§         May be flattened, rarely elliptical, a little less rarely, Gothic, or equilateral pointed

§         May be mixed forms in the same passage