The eighteenth century plan

A copy of the eighteenth century plan of Ceppi possessions in the town and the surrounding rural area, preserved in Prato State Archive, testifies to the changes that took place in Francesco Datini’s home after his death and allows us to familiarise with the structure of the building in that century.
The plan shows an attic, which still exists today, and various elements of the house that were still visible at that time but which are now no longer present: the fireplace in the room with two beds, with chimney stack on the roof and a sink near the well, in addition to two closed galleries overlooking the courtyard.

On the façade that gives on to the present-day Via Ser Lapo Mazzei, there was a little ironwork terrace and Baroque windows on the ground floor.

It is interesting to note that the Madonna del Ceppo by Filippo Lippi was still present in the courtyard, as Vasari recounted in Le vite, and that Via Ser Lapo Mazzei was known as Via della Pillotta, taking its name from the game played there.

From surveys of the buildings opposite and those lining Via Carraia, at that time still owned by the Ceppi, it is possible to glimpse the remains of an old garden and herb garden with wine fermentation room, of which only the main door now remains with the Ceppi emblem above.