Out of the many, One

E pluribus Unum

Special discoveries at Villa la Posta in Tuscany, our restoration project. This is not just a beautiful Grand Tour Villa it is a place where poetry and art meet life. We are in the process of restoring what will be the cultural spaces and today I introduce The Embassy, where we are building a library and where this marvellous floor resides. I tell you a little about it. It is a floor which many years ago was quietly laid — not just with stone and care, but with meaning.

Inspired by the Latin phrase e pluribus unum — “out of many, one” — and echoing the spirit of a Virgilian poem in which a farmer grinds his humble ingredients into something greater than the sum of its parts, this floor becomes more than just a surface. It becomes a meditation.

Composed of three panels, each formed from the same amount of local yellow marble and terracotta — materials native to this land — the floor is a quiet game of perception.

In one section, the tiles are arranged in strict squares, terracotta at the center. Here, the geometry creates boundaries. Each unit is self-contained, discrete, and silent. Division is the language.

But in another section, those same materials are scattered in a dispersed, egalitarian pattern — no piece taking prominence over another. The eye no longer settles on hierarchy or borders, but rather on a rhythm of subtle resonance. Difference exists, but in balance. Unity, not uniformity.

The Embassy floor at Villa La Posta is not just an act of restoration. It’s a quiet architectural thought, a floor that speaks — not loudly, but with conviction — about the power of placement, the nature of relationship, and the grace of collective harmony.

Out of many, one. A story of unity and harmony - our continued story. 

.