omigawd. How do the Italians do it? This idea is beautiful and useful. lurve it.

Lovely. But we have way too many insects and strangers walking the streets. I'll take my one ton of A/C.

I had the great pleasure of spending the past week in Tuscany and saw the same thing... I believe, in Montalcino. The lack of screens on all the windows and doors there do make this a great option.

Although the temperature never got really out of control, I was still amazed at how the thickness of our villa's walls and the effective use of shutters can keep the rooms so cool. I didn't want for air conditioning once at home.

It's simplicity defined.

Not sure how they can stand the mosquitos, though. When I lived in Florence, they were referred to as "helicopters," and they flew right past curtains and through the holes in our wooden slats, and right to my sweeter American blood, while my Italian roommate remained unscathed. In the morning they were too fat to fly. Give me a nice split ductless a/c unit any day of the week, or else a screen door.

I have tons of family in Spain, where they also do the exact same thing. When I was little I often wondered why the doors in Spain all had curtains over them. I noticed it but I never put two and two together until I was older. In Spain - at least at my family's houses they use mostly beaded curtains, though several of them also have curtains. The newer flats in the city have A/C, but they don't use it nearly as much as we do, even though it gets quite a bit hotter than it does here (in Boston). They know exactly what the best times are to open and close the windows and lower and raise the shades in order to optimize the cool air flowing through the house.

One could have curtains *and* insect screen. Or a deeper awning or other sun shade with insect screen. The curtains certainly do look nice; I wonder how quickly they get dirty.
Joanne

FYI. Beaded curtains in Europe are usually there not to keep the heat out but flies. Flies are a much bigger problem in the summer in France, Spain, etc.

Also, shutters and opening all windows works well when you have thick stone walls like those found in European houses. You can keep all the windows open in a New England colonial house's second or third floor and you'll still be as hot as a pig all summer long. Wood is not a great insulator, stone is.

Call me strange, but I want to see a post on Italian mailboxes now.

JohnnySlimane,

Your wish is my command -- coming up Monday!

I live in the UK. A rather seedy, local club has tried the same thing with thick velvet curtains. We get rather more rain than Italy and after about 2 months the curtains were ripped and moldy, only adding to the club's seedy status. Nasty.

Wes,

That's funny. In Paris, a lot of restaurants, cafes, etc. use the thick velvet curtains in the winter to keep out the draft as well...

I've seen the curtain thing lots in the uk but on the inside, esp. over the front door. The house I'm renting now has one. I think over here tho its used the opposite way round - to keep the drafts out in winter. Wes that sounds nasty! All the sunnier European places I've stayed have never had air conditioning, just the shutters, windows and curtains closed during the day, and then opened at night when its cooler. With that and the stone walls and floors you don't need air conditioning.

i live in a 50-unit bldg in brooklyn in a 1BR with southern- and western-facing windows, six in all. No cross-ventilation for us, and the place really heats up (we keep shades open for plants) in the summer, so I considered doing the same thing i had seen outside napoli, but with a twist: I'd hang the curtain inside, and prop the door open about 1/4 of the way when i was home. Works great if security is not an issue, like the Dutch doors you see in the country.

Ooooo, goody, you're open to requests, Kristin? If it works for you, I'd love to see those old fountains built into the walls for (I think) animals to drink from. Or maybe for the sheer pleasure of their sweet-sounding little water splashes. Do they have them where you are?

Aulaire,

Actually, I had been taking post box photos and wondering whether to post them. Haven't seen exactly the built-in water fountains you describe, but will keep my eyes open for you!

I spend a couple of months each year in this little village in France. There is one house, one single house in the village, with screens on their windows. There's another 'ruin' with a screen door, but it's rusted shut and the screen is torn. I've always thought the absence of screens there was odd, considering they do have bugs and what not. The one time I lived without screened windows, we had two bats fly in. V. exciting evenings.

I am also aware of this age-old use. It may a come-back in the 70s and 80s. Maybe it's time this air conditioning and cooling went retro.

Maybe we could use you as a consultant for our company in our technology and innovation department Brooklyn Air Conditioing Company

You must understand that such a solution is used in small villages (as you can see), in old houses whose thick walls keep the inside quite cool (I know because my house is like this and during summer it's a bless).
Besides, if buildings are so old, installing central air conditioning can be tricky - or maybe the owners are old retired people (of course - who lives in those secluded villages anymore?) who don't have much money and don't even think about air conditioning.