Kenmore Undressed

The Beautiful Homes of Grandparadiso

My ethnic heritage is Italian and I’ve had the wonderful fortune to have an extended family in both Northern and Central Italy. In recent years my wife and I have travelled back to the home of my ancestors and found a second home with some wonderful people. For the next several weeks, I want to share some of my experiences with you and, in a fun way, show you how life, food, culture and real estate lives on the other side of the pond. I’d like to start in Torino which lies in the Northwest region of Italy (the Piedmont). Turin is the home of over 1 million people and is one of the least visited by tourists. My mother’s family lives in Torino in a typical neighborhood

As in many Italian homes, my cousins live in an extended family. The younger family lives upstairs and grandma and grandpa live downstairs. I shall write more about Torino in future posts. For now I wanted to contrast the home above with the unique and stunning architecture of the homes that lie in the mountains northwest of Torino near the French border in the area of Ceresole. My great grandmother, grandmother and grandfather are from two small villages named Locana and Fey. The area is spectacular. The homes are rustic and reflect a hearty people. What is most interesting to me is the alpine feel of the homes and the rock roofs:

The next picture illustrates how beautiful the newer roofs can look:

Every culture utilizes the natural materials close-by when building it’s homes. I once had a client who is originally from Ireland. He was shocked that we build houses out of wood in the Northwest. Of course, in Ireland they have no wood and lots of big rocks……………I think the Italians have done a beautiful job of weaving their natural world into the architecture.