Posts Tagged 'Gressoney St'
The origins of the "village of Staffal"
The "village Staffal" is one of the earliest parts of the Walser settlement of the twelfth century on the southern slopes of Monte Rosa, at an altitude of 1,823 m. As all these typical settlements consisted of four or five homes with a stable winter and the barn, the mill and communal oven for baking bread, a "Stadel" (barn) for storing barley and rye.
The name derives from "Staffele" which is a diminutive of the German stoves (step) and represents the softening of the slope of the valley into a flat strip before plunging back into the stream.
Over the centuries, thanks to the commercial activity carried on by itinerant Gressoney long period of inactivity during the winter markets of German-speaking Switzerland and southern Germany, the houses, first of all wood, turned into stone and some rooms became more bourgeois and refined, yet remain within the original farm house.
The family Peccoz Beck, whose trades were particularly flourishing beyond the Alps, went on to become sole owner of the group of houses and in two generations from 1801 to 1876 restructured the entire village, first building a house entirely civil (now called "white house"), then rebuilt the largest of the houses and then replaced the stadel agricultural and other farm houses with a beautiful house hunting (1876), refined and rustic at the same time. This aspect is typical dell'archittettura Gressoney, which has no elsewhere, because the bourgeois and the wealth gained in foreign markets, have never resulted in the 'abandonment of agricultural activity, which was the original root.
This core renovated homes so pleased to Queen Margaret, the guest of Baron Louis Beck Peccoz in a luxurious mansion in Gressoney St. Jean, who chose it as his favorite residence whenever commitments which are either held it elsewhere. This happened in the summers from 1891 to 1894, until the Baron died while accompanying the Queen to Zermatt through the Lys pass (altitude 4.200m).
In the hunting lodge, which later became the quintessential "villa", the Queen had a studio, bedroom and dining room. In the adjoining country house, on balconies and in cozy rooms with wooden decor and fragrant hay, spent much of his time, in what she called his "atelier", dedicated to embroidery designs and long chats with the ladies in waiting.
The west facade of the house, not visible from the access road, had the plaster rustic and typical balcony to dry the hay, the front doors to the rich decorations, marked symmetrically, a large pediment with fretwork balconies and plaster pink . The interiors continuously alternate rustic and polished: a room of the ground floor and five on the first floor are elegant, while all others are rougher, but no less captivating, like, all with sloping ceilings, the second and third floors.
The decor and comfort so close and intermingled and lived in the authentic rural environment profoundly fascinated Queen mountaineer, to the extent that define this place as "paradise in the paradise of Gressoney."
The restoration and new destinations
In 1997 he concluded a valuable restoration work that has maintained and developed all these elements of the original building.
The hunting lodge is now a resort hotel, with 17 apartments of various sizes: the role of slavery at the time (so a village can not help it), it is now assumed by a professional hotel service.
The farm, linked to the hunting lodge of a new indoor facility is now used as a bar, restaurant and meeting places and entertainment.
