Dear Jurnale,
Today I want to bring you in a very special place, a place where time stands still and you can smell the scent of history and art, get lost in the landscape given by “Terrazzo dell’Infinito” (Terrace of Infinity) and enjoy an ancient magical and precious atmosphere. I’m talking about one of the most exclusive residences in the world: Villa Cimbrone in Ravello.
I remember the day when Giorgio Vuilleumier (owner of Villa Cimbrone) came to me with an old tile of 1904 and asked me to make the same product to give the Villa and the Hotel de Charme the same special and unmistakable flavor of hundreds of years ago.
Well, after all these years, we had even kept the same stamp used a century ago and so we produced just the same tile.
What does it mean to restore one of the most exclusive residences in the world?
The restoration work is intended as enhancement, recovery, protection and reacquisition of the original splendor of one of the most important building of cultural heritage that is Villa Cimbrone.
An aristocratic residence for centuries, today Villa Cimbrone is one of the most prestigious Mediterranean Hotel de Charme, while the gardens (that can be visited by non-guests, too) are one of the most beautiful and evocative place of the Amalfi Coast .
The restoration of our monumental site shows how it is possible to manage, in a virtuous way, the care and love for our area, and to give our guests the chance to live an experience according to the original style.
Art, craftsmanship, history, culture and love for the land. A perfect union of past, present and future. Are these the ingredients of Villa Cimbrone success?
We seek mastery in handmade processing and from this point of view the corporate values of Fornace De Martino perfectly match with ours.
If we are able to maintain, and therefore to bequeath, the artistic and cultural heritage of the past is also thanks to the ritual tradition of craftsmanship processes that we always seek on our territory.
Villa Cimbrone and Fornace De Martino are two stories that intertwine in the last 100 years, says Giorgio Vuilleumier: the deep love we feel for the Amalfi Coast history, the desire to tell the story of our country through the materials we use and to continue to donate to Villa Cimbrone a unique and unmistakable flavor. My greatest wish was to have the same product of 100 years ago. And I made it. Thanks to the craftsmanship and the painstaking attention to detail, the craftsmen of De Martino ancient kilns have managed to create a unique flooring of decorated and hand-cut tiles, as it was made in the past. Today, Fornace De Martino remains one of the few companies able to carry on the ancient art of working with clay. The master craftsmen of “cotto” create unique handmade “riggiole” (decorated tiles) that are first sun-dried and then cooked with bundles of wood in ancient kilns. Inside each tile created for Villa Cimbrone there is the art and the flavor of the past, and the four natural elements.
What do Villa Cimbrone and Fornace De Martino share?
The love for the Amalfi Coast and for the handcrafted products that describe it.
The commitment for the protection of our history and culture.
Villa Cimbrone and Fornace De Martino represent high quality and successful differentiation. In a mass globalization and standardization era, there are very few companies that continue to strive for the uniqueness of the artifacts. The true quality lies in diversification and in the search of unique and non-standard products.
Our structure has high quality cultural and artistic standards and, to continue to enhance this treasure, you have to work with those who truly know what art and craftsmanship are and work with passion.
Moreover, as the De Martino work is appreciated and sought after by great international architects and designers, Villa Cimbrone is a favorite destination of distinguished guests from all over the world, who come to visit this historic, architectural, botanical and panoramic beauty.