Alisanne Wonderland

25/10/2022

My new Virtual Showroom for everything I have available in my Round Top, Texas warehouses is open!

For the Fall 2022 Show, most of my architectural pieces and antiques are available for show and purchase. And I'm still in Paris! I'm preparing for a visit from friends next week. We're filming their commentaries on the Bordeaux Chateau facades, which are finally available for sale and ready to ship...

19/11/2020

This is my latest adventure hunting for spectacular reclaimed flooring and antique building materials for my clients. I traveled to Vichy France to visit with a master craftsman of parquet floors and see his workshop. While there, I came across this abandoned arch from 1822 when the original farmhouse was demolished. They just left the arch here in the field - an incredible construction using volcanic stone - some of the most heavy building stone in the world.

02/11/2020

To find spectacular Carrara Marble slabs, it’s best to hunt through the acres of blocks (and blocks already cut) to find your perfect stone, rather than depend on samples.

The color and veining is such a personal choice, and the impact so great, that it makes sense to examine the huge selection that is available in Carrara.

Once you are aware of the amazing peculiarities of blocks of Carrara, you will want to be sure that the marble selection for your home is exactly what you want - because the world inside marble will show itself to you and to everyone who visits your home.

There can be so much energy and movement or quietness and repose - depending on the veining and color contrast.

Make your purchase of marble as exciting as the story of the marble itself!

30/10/2020

While I was in Carrara, I took images of the historical documentation. Carrara has protected their marble since the 1500s.
It was a primitive, dangerous business, but the world desired the fabulous stone, and the people of Carrara figured out how to cut the stone from the mountain and ship massive marble blocks around the world.

Statuario, the most prized Carrara marble, is a pure white or almost pure white, and it is becoming more and more rare as the deposits in the mountain are carved out.
There are materials in our world that, in the future, will no longer be available.

Statuario Carrara is one of those resources.
The value to the community has been immense, as you can see on the short clip of the townspeople, politicians, socialites, military, and the Church attending the launch of a giant raft built to move monumental pieces of marble.

28/10/2020

This is Part II of my visit to a Paris demolition site. It’s a 1911 apartment building that turned out to have terrific French Oak flooring to reclaim.
To watch Part I or the full length videos on IGTV, visit my Instagram .
There’s no time for “thinking about it” when I get a call from my contacts who help me watch for demolitions.
I have to be the first one there, talk with the crew, inspect the flooring, and make the decision to buy. My team is able to move the flooring offsite and into storage - usually the same day.
The reclaimed 18th century French Oak and antique Terracotta floors are in so much demand that the flooring is usually on the way to one of my clients within a week.
When it comes to finding reclaimed flooring for my clients, I’m willing to climb through any type of construction or demolition to get the best!

22/10/2020

Today, I’m sharing my visit two weeks ago to the Carrara Marble quarry high up in the mountains - overlooking the Mediterranean in Italy.
We took some fun video of the Jeeps winding up some pretty narrow and slippery roads. And it was shocking how large the mountain was and how it looked to be almost solid marble. But when it comes to going to the source for the best marble for my clients, I’m willing to trek anywhere!

21/10/2020

I thought I’d share some pictures and information about the 18th century French oak that is reclaimed in France.
I’m very lucky to have trusted contacts throughout France in the demolition business. My contacts will alert me to upcoming demolitions where the French oak flooring is in great condition.
I aim to be the first on a demolition site to get the best choices, and I only purchase from residential properties and historically significant buildings.
The planks are long and wide compared to modern flooring (7” to 11” wide and 7 ft to 11 ft long). The floors from reclaimed French oak are distinctive and bring a rustic beauty to your elegant home or rough and ready party barn!

20/10/2020

Metal ornamentation on buildings is an ancient tradition. And now, modern equipment, new techniques, cutting-edge technology, combined with high quality copper and zinc, make it possible to produce decorations based on your photographs, drawings, and molds taken from historic pieces or from pieces you have designed or collected.
You can now create any design to meet your architect and builder specifications.
And you’re able to reproduce wonderful period designs and architectural elements to match your vision.

19/10/2020

For all my friends at the Fall 2020 Round Top Antiques Show in Round Top, Texas and I thought I’d share one of my adventures.
I don't go to showrooms for samples or send my clients to showrooms.
I have wonderful friends in the demolition business, and when they give me the call that a spectacular floor is getting replaced... I am on my way within minutes!
You have to be the first one on the site to buy the best reclaimed French Oak. And lots of other extras can turn up in these demolition sites.
My clients know that at any moment I could find extraordinary reclaimed flooring or building materials for their projects.
We keep in close touch!

17/10/2020

For all my friends at the Fall 2020 Round Top Antiques Show in Round Top, Texas and ...I thought I’d share with you the way I shop for Carrara Marble for my clients.

I don't go to showrooms for samples or send my clients to showrooms.
I travel to the source of the finest marble in the world - Carrara, Italy - and I inspect the blocks of marble before they're ever cut into slabs.

I also inspect all the slabs in the quarries that have already been cut from blocks. These are not separate slabs, isolated from each other - but slabs from a single block.

This allows my clients to explore patterns and colors from a huge selection and be able to maintain a design throughout a room or multiple rooms. Sometimes, after seeing the spectacular choices available at wholesale prices in Carrara, Italy, they choose an entirely different design!

Going to the source gives so many more possibilities!

12/10/2020

I'm in , Italy! Visit the extraordinary factory with me, where artisans create marble sculptures - including exact replicas out of Carrara marble for the Duomo di Milano!