CASANOVALTA is a rich and lyrical memoir set in mid 20th-century Tuscany where former Hollywood actress Anita Eubank and her husband, famed architect Craig Ellwood, take on the restoration of a crumbling Renaissance-era stone farmhouse.
Drawn from the pages of her personal journal, Anita recounts enduring a freezing winter, cultural clashes, and the unexpected joys of rural Italian life. Through art, photographs, recipes, and evocative storytelling, she captures the humor, struggle, and deep transformation sparked by a house-and a land-that demanded everything.
A love story, a creative journey, and a testament to resilience, CASANOVALTA invites you into a timeless world where the past and present intertwine.
"Anita Eubank is the most useful architectural historian I've ever met! A history like this had to be written so that we could all read and experience it ourselves. One of the best experiences of my life!"
- Roberto Zancan, professor (HEAD-Genève) Haute école d'art et de design-University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland
"The glowingly illustrated recipes are written as though we've just taken a walk with the author in the Tuscan hills and are now in her kitchen, turning the bounty into goodness."
-Janet Sternburg, author of White Matter, A Memoir of Family and Medicine; fine art photographer for Looking at Mexico, Mexico Looks Back
