THE EARLY YEARS

Restoring the structural arches of this Tuscan villa was Bernardo’s last project before leaving Italy. Look carefully, and you can catch a glimpse of the grassy bed of the Arno River, where Michelangelo and DaVinci once walked.

We were so excited to see one of our first installations on the cover of Real Estate magazine. Back then, print publications were all we had, so we had to beg our realtor friends to get our hands on a precious copy. Two decades later, social media has changed the world, and we get to see our projects pop up online regularly. 

Bernardo’s first home in the USA was a small rental apartment. Since he couldn’t renovate it, he began tiling mobile objects, like this coffee table. He hand-cut the pieces from leftover tile, planting the seed for a career in creative tile work…

12×12 limestone was the trend when we started. Natural travertine tiles like these eventually set the stage for porcelain replicas of real stone to flood the tile market. If you want to know more about stone vs. porcelain, read this!

Gianna’s first creative endeavor after leaving Italy was a mural of a farm scene for a children’s space. As the tile business grew, she put down her paintbrush for a while. Fortunately she picked it up again, not only to resume painting, but to join a creative movement to inspire artisans and art throughout our industry.

When we installed this 12×12 minimalist matte grey tile, it was considered ultra modern. It was so unique, it was selected for the cover of Home & Design. Over twenty years later, it could still be current.