Mountain Chalets
I’d never realised how much stone was used in mountain houses: I’m sure it depends on region (obviously) but on a recent trip to the alps, I stayed in a stunning small town called Les Contamines-Montjoie. It’s about an hour East of Geneva, is located up a stunningly beautiful dead-end valley. The snow record is brilliant because of the weather trap that the valley causes, and the town is completely unspoilt, very friendly, and not a rip-off. Of course if you fancy a day somewhere more expensive then chamonix is 30 mins away, as is Megeve. The latter being reachable by ski if you take the lift from the neighbouring town of St. Gervais les bains.
I had been to this resort once before, for a short skiing break, and not only was the skiing outstanding, but the only people i ever seemed to queue behind were the people I was staying with! It’s a real gem. However, this recent trip was in the summer, and what a revelation it was. I’d never been to the alps in the summer before, and whether it’s mountain biking; walking; swimming; playing tennis…. there is just so much to do.
On one gentle walk back to our chalet. ( www.chaletkiana.com ) we found ourselves talking to the town mayor. What a wonderful chap: a farmer and mountain dweller all his life, and he showed us his house and farm as we walked through the town. Now I’d always thought chalets were exclusively built in wood, obviously because of the ready supply of timber. But in this region the practice on the larger houses was to put a stone surround round the front door and several of the front windows.
The mayor’s house had these features in prominence, and the stone used was a beautiful open textured stone of a yellow to buff brown colour. This massive farmhouse, built in 1701 also had a stone fireplace clearly made at the same time and by the same mason, as the moulding and mode of stone work was clearly the same.
Stone fireplaces in the mountains. What a surprise.