Domus Civita was purchased in a disastrous state in 2011 by owner and architect Patrizio Fradiani and his partner Mark. Inhabited but abused and cut up, the house main structure was part of a larger building divided up in the 20th century even though the original structure dates from the 14th century, when the town of Civita di Bagnoregio current urban layout developed. The signs of the house original beauty were still visible in the old stone fireplace, the wooden beams, the stone walls, the terracotta floors.

However the most interesting feature of the house was its umbilical connection to its underground world all carved into the soft volcanic tufa stone. Through a series of tunnels and caves dating from the middle ages as well as Roman and Etruscan times the house ground floor had a stair dug into the stone and reaching a large underground Roman water cistern still perfectly preserved. Through the cistern you could reach an abandoned garden suspended between 2 stone cliffs at the edge of town. From the garden more caves of Etruscan and medieval times were dug into the rock opening up interesting possibilities for creative uses. Architects: Studio F, Location: Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy, Photographs: Bob Coscarelli.