The travelogue inside my head

I recently went back in time to study some "striped" churches in medieval Italy. The stripes are horizontal and created by alternating light and dark colored bricks or stones. Here's one from around 1120, in Verona.

(Facade of the Church of Santa Stefano, 

courtesy of OrbiliusMagister via Wikimedia Commons)

Here's a much grander version from the 13th century. Note especially the horizontal stripes on the tall bell tower behind the cathedral.

(Sienna Cathedral, courtesy of Dudva via Wikimedia Commons)

I'm wondering if I could plausibly work a striped pattern like this into the house of my heroine's father, who is a rich silk merchant in Venice? For now I'm just researching and taking notes. I'll make a decision on this in the second draft of my current WIP. If you'd like to read more about striped buildings in Italy, there's an interesting article on the internet called "Facades and Stripes: An Account of Striped Facades from Medieval Italian Churches to the Architecture of Mario Botta." You can read the article here.