On the up and up!

Our Cumberland Street home in San Francisco, an Edwardian built in 1914, was considered old and a "fixer-upper" when we purchased it in 2001. The living area, approximately 80 feet in length, sat upon the ground floor garage of similar dimensions. Once up the stairs the house resembled a pretty typical "railroad" or "shotgun" flat:  a collection of rooms, right and left, off a common hallway. Our living room and bedroom shared a common wall; the kitchen was "all the way" down the hall. I remember complaining how far I had to walk (thirty-five paces) to retrieve something I'd forgotten at the other end of "Howard!" We named our house Howard.

Howard sat off Dolores Park in a pretty flat area of San Francisco, a city famous for its hills; some very steep! I often marveled at family homes built on the steepest streets like Filbert and Lombard on Russian Hill or 21st Street in Noe Valley; streets so steep that many have stairways instead of sidewalks!

"Who'd want to live on the side of a hill like that?"

The vacationing motorist, with guidebook in hand, might drive through Ceriana without ever considering a stop. He's probably on his way to the picturesque hill towns of Baijardo or Apricale. There's something quite romantic about a town perched upon hill. The traveller sees an Italian hill town in the distance, it appears, disappears and reappears as he drives the curvy roads; he's tantalized by it--almost there, almost there! Ceriana is not that kind of a hill town. As you drive up from San Remo you have but one clear view of Ceriana and if your attention is diverted for a second or two, or if it's a bit hazy, you might miss it entirely. Driving through the town on Corso Italia is a bit of a "ho-hum"  experience; one sees very little of this amazing place! Ceriana doesn't perch itself upon a hilltop, it's built on a valley wall; each structure's foundation is the building below. The homes cling to each other and hold each other up and have done so for ten centuries! At one time, before the top road was carved out of the mountain, one would approach Ceriana from below on a mule trail leading up from Taggia. The traveller of times past would see Ceriana in its entirety from a great distance and as the vision of the town grew in scale so, too, grew his desire to stop and explore. Sometimes I'm grateful that this town is so easily missed! Both Baijardo and Apricale have become what Rich and I call "boutique" towns, while Ceriana remains an active and living Italian hill(side)town.

The concentrically ringed streets (caruggi) of Ceriana are paved with a center stripe of brick surrounded by stones; not cobblestone, but stones, rough and natural, and set in cement. There are a few caruggi on which expert Serianasci drivers maneuver their scooters, Apes, and Pandas, but, for the most part, caruggi were designed for asses (proper ones) and humans. Being built on a steep valley wall, most of the caruggi are a combination of ramps and steps. At one time, businesses lined these streets; however, sadly, only En Tu Furnu (Ceriana's only restaurant) and Severina's Parrucchiere remain in caruggi. All other businesses have located upon the Corso Italia--the main drag! Now, if you live in centro storico, as we do, you must really "plan" your shopping to correspond with the shop hours and the amount of energy you'll need to get there. It's always a climb, so rest-up! Never purchase more than you can carry and make sure to bring up your trash on the way to the shops--garbage is an individual responsibility in Ceriana.

The homes in Ceriana mirror the verticality of the town. Many "homes" here are a collection of rooms off a common, usually very steep and uneven, staircase. A home may have several owners sharing the common staircase. Ours is a good example of this concept.

At one time our 13th century home; we call it Casa Zappiana, was a "complete" house with one owner, the last being the Zappia family. Today, we co-own the building with another family we'll call the "others." To get in Casa Zappiana one enters a "shared" external door at carrugio level and encounters the first internal door. This door, belonging to the "others," accesses their kitchen and living room. To the right of this door is a short staircase leading to the first landing. There are three doors on this landing, the first two belong to the "others" and conceals their bedroom and bathroom respectively. Yes, the "others" must enter the common area to access each of their rooms; and, yes, on more than one occasion we've seen them in their nighties! Awkward. Ours is the fourth and final internal door one finds after entering from the carrugio. Once "in" the staircase continues and leads to our two bedrooms off a landing then, windingly, up to the kitchen, bath, living room, and terrace. Once in Casa Zappiana, there's a strong desire to remain in!

I used to complain about walking the level thrity-five paces from living room to kitchen in poor ol' Howard! Ha!