In Portugal, many streets are still tiled in mosaic patterns. The tiles are painstakingly laid by hand using a traditional process that has not changed in a century.
never lived in Portugal nor visited in the winter, it never crossed my mind that there is not central heat in a lot of their buildings,” Beato said. She did not install central heating during the renovation. The lack is not particularly unusual in the area, but she regrets not installing it while the home was already “open” for repairs. “The walls in the house are three feet thick and the floor is solid concrete, so it’s not as if you can cut open a hole in the sheetrock and run plumbing and electrical,” Beato explained. “At this point, we would have to jackhammer the concrete floor, run wires across the walls within the concrete, and probably take a pickaxe to chisel out the width of the wall to run plastic tubing to encase the electrical wires. They build these houses to last for centuries, so it’s too late to change my mind about heating now!” Beato said that one of her favorite things about the project was keeping her father alive for her daughters and their future children. She also made note of the incred- ible craftsmanship and attention to detail that the contractors she hired brought to her project. “Our tiler, in particular, was amazing,” she recalled. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen tile corners like his (see picture at right) or such perfect alignment.” Beato brought her love of European tiles back with her when she returned to the states, using modernized versions of the tiles in her own renovation in Atlanta-area projects. “One pattern in a modern, pale gray with a hint of lighter blue and white (see far right image p. 61) looked absolute- ly beautiful in a shower in a custom farm- house I worked on later in the year,” she said. Of another project, she mentioned, “I have been in love with concrete tiles forev- er because the patterns remind me of the old paved and tile streets in Portugal. It’s nice that they are an ‘in’ trend right now. Hopefully it will last!” FINDING BEAUTY EVERYWHERE
BREAKING DOWN THE NUMBERS This renovation was different than most because there were no acquisition costs for Beato, but that did not dimin- ish the amount of work that went into the property both inside and out: “We re-did the stucco exterior on the whole house, repainted the entire exte- rior, re-did the front walkway, installed a new-but-custom-replicated gate for the driveway, cleaned and replaced the broken clay roof tiles, repointed the roof tiles, which means we fixed all the cracked and broken mortar, installed all new windows throughout, and com- pletely gutted one of the two interior units,” she said. Beato’s cousin lives upstairs in the second-floor unit, so that one was left alone. “We spent a total of about $45,000 USD, and when we compared the current value of the home to the last appraisal, it had gained about 300,000 euros in the past 10 years after the work we did. The real estate values went through the roof!” she said. •
This house is located in the same historic district as Beato's renovation. Its color scheme highlights the bright colors popular at the time of construction and still today.
Back in the United States, Beato continues to indulge her love of European tile in creative ways. Here, she installed a bathroom "rug" design in front of a vanity using the tiles.
Beato used these tiles, which were made in Spain with a pale gray and blue color palette, in a modern renovation earlier this year.
60 | think realty magazine :: january 2018
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