Our Favorite Houses: Trulli One Of A Kind
Likely the country’s only example of Italian “trulli” architecture. Tony Valanis
Before Evans Woollen designed some of Indy’s best midcentury-modern homes, he experimented with round, pointy-roof huts called “trulli” houses in the Puglia region of Italy. His young clients, Joan and Jordan Leibman, knew they wanted a Woollen creation when they approached him in 1962, but weren’t sure exactly what. He ended up thrilling them with twin stucco structures just south of Castleton, where they raised five children in the pair of houses. House Beautiful published a story on them in the 1960s. Joan, now widowed, still lives there, saying the “big circle and small circle” worked perfectly for seven people, and now the “big circle” is ideal for her.
Inside Story
From the front door, the open floor plan of the “big circle” hut uncoils to the left around a large cylindrical support structure that holds the fireplace flume. A spiral staircase leads up to a large balcony. The “small circle” section has conventionally separated bedrooms and bathrooms, plus a loft. As for the experience of living in such an unusual structure, Joan says, “It’s the light more than the roundness. The fact that it doesn’t feel hemmed in.”
-
- Likely the country’s only example of Italian “trulli” architecture.
-
- Likely the country’s only example of Italian “trulli” architecture.
