I first visited the village of Oliveto before I married Arabella over 45 years ago, and have returned regularly ever since. The idea of building a giant sundial there came to me on one of these early visits for at the time we owned a dovecote – a Colombia in Italian – on hill nearby called Sorano. I have for many years known about sundials and on one of my early Roman visits had been taken to see the tomb of Arabella’s grandfather in one of the great Roman churches S. Maria deli Angeli. On this visit I was impressed by his magnificent tomb but also by the gigantic meridian line – a strip of bronze inserted into its floor over which a spot of light projected from a hole in the ceiling 30 metres above passes at noon precisely. In the 16th century at noon a gun was fired at midday to enable accurate correction of the cities’ clocks. In what I like to think of as an inspired flash of inspiration the idea of a sundial projecting onto the internal walls of a tower like the one at Sorano came to me.
The idea was not to be realised in the dovecote for this tower which still stands in a view from the village was sadly sold. Then my hope was forged of a bespoke tower, in a small house, with a swimming pool, for holidays and the future. I have always been a bit of a designer and dreamt of building in my lifetime a house of my design. The time came when I could afford to do this and I set about the project with my friend who bears the magnificent name of Architetto Dr. Hans Bolko Von Schweinichen (of the swineherd). The house got bigger than in my first plan. The concept and design is mine, but Bolko undertook it with his characteristic German efficiency and ensured it will not fall down. We formed a friendship which endured without stress the dramas of a difficult project. Arabella designed the garden, John Stefanidis helped with the decoration, Dominique my step daughter painted the skyscape in the tower, and I put in every sundial line and curve during frequent short visits over five years. We both worked from four levels of scaffolding, and I observed a strict self imposed rule of always having a mobile telephone in my pocket with several numbers to contact if need be. I only fell once and without injury.