When House Crazy Sarah came across photos of this place on Facebook, she stopped scrolling and her breath actually caught in her throat!
These aren’t stylized postcards – they are real photos of an actual home.
What a life to live! High above the troubles of the world in a scenic alpine setting is this humble historic cottage.
The owners – Paola and Marco – allowed House Crazy Sarah to share some photos of their “mountain hut” and the surrounding countryside and nearby village.
Located in Ossola Valley, Piedmont in north-west Italy, this pint-sized vacation home is perched on the very edge of a steep mountain cliff.
The house is made from stone covered in plaster and painted white; the roof is also made of local stones.
The structure was built in the late 1700’s and was most recently redone in the 1960’s. The walls are almost a foot thick.
Inside, the cottage has a living room/kitchen combo and a bathroom on the ground floor and two bedrooms on the upper floor.
The cottage is heated with two wood stoves. Paola says they gather firewood form the trees in the nearby area.
Freshly baked bread cooling on the stove – heavenly!
Paola also put her own touch on the house.
“I painted the walls with Farrow and Ball paint (Tallow for walls and Parma Grey for doors and windows) and I had to put wallpaper on the kids room ceiling (there were three layers of wallpaper glued to the ceiling!).”
The homeowners are a team of historian/journalist/photo editors who worked in “publishing houses for 20 years”. You can view their beautifully crafted blog here. Although it is written entirely in Italian, the blog it still gorgeous to look at.
The bedrooms on the upper floor are connected to the lower level by outdoor stairs, thus making the house rather unsuitable for use in winter. So technically, it is only a summer season cottage.
This is the “children’s room”.
So rustic and charming!
The old-world multi-pane window is the real deal.
The master bedroom:
More needlepoint!
Here is a view of the cottage in the winter:
Now let’s head down the road to check out the alpine village below…
The village is inhabited by about 100 people.
There is a mayor’s house, a primary school (with six students), a general store, and a bar & restaurant. That’s really all you need – right?
In the summer, Paola says many people come to the village for their holidays. They stay at houses that were once were rural buildings but are now converted to cottages.
Here is a historic photo of the village:
Below is the Mayor’s house and school:
Paola shared some of her photos of amazing old houses in the area:
One of the most sacred places in the area is the historic mountainside church:
Here are some close-ups of the church:
Notice the hand-carved date?
1841
Paola also shared some interesting photos of the surrounding landscape:
And finally, a view of the early evening moon from the “hut”…
Thank you to Paola and Marco for sharing these enchanting photos of your vacation cottage in the Piedmont region of Verbania, Italy.
Truly breathtaking!
~~~
