Kyle Tackwell Ball
Kyle’s sense of adventure after living abroad for seven years, combined with a love of all things Italian, proved to be the perfect catalyst for renovating a medieval church in Chianti. A baby boomer with a background in public relations, Kyle has a longstanding passion for interior design and architecture. She is an only child, which explains everything, and has a stubborn approach to life assuming she can fix everything. The first name, Kyle, for a female, is a constant source of problems, but it suits her anyway. Illinois born, but with a Southern soul thanks to her mom’s Tennessee roots, she feels most at home in the Southeast U. S.
This is Kyle’s debut, and probably her swan song, as an author. At least she knows she’s not renovating another Italian chapel anytime soon.
Altared
When Kyle Tackwell Ball’s search for a quaint country home near Florence, Italy, in move-in condition somehow led to the purchase of an abandoned church in a small borgo near Greve-in-Chianti called Le Convertoie, she ended up with much more than a project to overcome her newly contracted “empty nest syndrome.”
Ball soon found herself starring in a “Stones and Bones Classic”; the ruin she’d purchased would require years of renovation and an endless amount of money before it would become habitable. But her journey had unexpected rewards, too: she reconnected with some wonderful friends, made new ones, learned the language of her newly adopted home country, and became experienced in the Italian knack of getting around the system. Most importantly, she learned to appreciate Italian culture, food and wine, and how rewarding it is to give new life to a beautiful old building.
Ball’s renovation was featured in the March 2010 “Before & After” issue of Architectural Digest, beautifully documented by Kim Sargent of Sargent Architectural Photography.