Renovation

An old house

It’s an old house dating back to 1724, located in Estoul, a quaint mountain village lying 1,850 m above sea level and overlooking Val d'Ayas.

In winter you have the Brusson - Palasinaz ski lift practically on the doorstep – 200m away.

In summer it’s the perfect place to set off on excursions either on foot and by mountain bike. Alternatively, you can simply take it easy and soak up the atmosphere of a place still in direct contact with nature. You’re bound to see Grandma Anna herding her cows to pasture and Graziella’s hens scratching about in the field beside the footpath. You’ll probably see Mauro on his way to the vegetable patch with heavy buckets brimming full of water.

Or when dusk is falling you may be lucky enough to glimpse a roe deer or stag who’s mistakenly come too close to the houses.

Generations of lives lived between these walls

289 years of faces, glimpses, children running up and down the stairs, playing on the balconies, laughing. Old men recalling the times when they used to do the same. What I don’t know and have to imagine are the faces and expressions of those who lived here over the years. Happy faces for a good harvest, eyes staring at the sky, hoping for a sunny day to dry the hay. Long winter nights spent carving wood, talking to the wife and children. Laughter and curses. Generations of lives spent between these walls.

Ground floor

On this floor there was one pen for the cows and another for the goats. Cows getting up, lying down, a continual sound of animals living side by side with country folk. The animal heat rose to warm us in the cold months. Men tended the livestock and the livestock in turn provide food and warmth to man.

First floor

A bucketful of water standing on a small wooden bench, a ladle hanging from the lip of the bucket, a woodstove, sooty cauldrons, a table and in the corner the beds.

Top floor

Below the roof was the hayloft. Inside the main double doors was the threshing area since there was no room for it outside – the village houses are all crammed together, one on top of the other like stones in a pile. The larch beams are smooth, polished by countless harvests: hay, rye hay, broad bean plants.