Film Tour of our House

**Ancienne Alliance** · 29th June 09, 07:42 AM

Originally Posted by NorCalPiper

I want to come and visit next spring!!!

This is excellent news !

Just let us know ahead of time so we can organize ourselves to greet you in the best way possible.

Best,

Robert

**GMan** · 29th June 09, 03:31 PM

Wonderful tour. Thank you.

**Mael Coluim** · 29th June 09, 07:46 PM

As lovely as the videos are in capturing the beauty of you home and family, your commentary gives the depth of love that exists there. I am truly the envy of all who visit this thread as in a few weeks I will be there!

**ozth3dog** · 29th June 09, 08:35 PM

beautiful view of the mountains! wish i had such a view.

**Ancienne Alliance** · 30th June 09, 06:13 AM

Originally Posted by McMurdo

Robert
Thank you so much for the tour, I'm not sure what part is my favourite, though I would love to be sitting at he dining room table with a nice cup of tea.

Earl Grey or Darjeeling ?

**Rogerson785** · 30th June 09, 06:47 AM

Lady Chrystel and Robert,

Thanks for the grand tour. I am sure I was close to your village when I drove from Verona Italy to Heidelberg Germany and Austria.

Be well and have a great day.
Chris

**McClef** · 30th June 09, 12:06 PM

What a wonderful rural idyll.

I guess many of us would love to live there - especially if the drive can be brought up to the house!

Thanks for sharing!

**Rex_Tremende** · 30th June 09, 03:43 PM

Robert,

I had admired your library in some of your earlier photos. I thought it was ancient - or at least as old as the house. I'm so glad you told the story of hacking up a 19th C. bed to make it. What an illusion! The shelves were old, just not always in the form of shelves. Ingenious. What courage it must have taken to take a saw to that old bed.

What do you know of the history of the house and its prior occupants? I can imagine the stories it would tell.

Regards,
Rex.

**Ancienne Alliance** · 30th June 09, 10:51 PM

Originally Posted by Rex_Tremende

Robert,

I had admired your library in some of your earlier photos. I thought it was ancient - or at least as old as the house. I'm so glad you told the story of hacking up a 19th C. bed to make it. What an illusion! The shelves were old, just not always in the form of shelves. Ingenious. What courage it must have taken to take a saw to that old bed.

What do you know of the history of the house and its prior occupants? I can imagine the stories it would tell.

Regards,
Rex.

Rex,

If you come back to this Thread, here is a summary of the stories around our house.

The house is first mentioned on a cadastre named “La Mappa Sarda”, of 1725. We can therefore assume it was already there prior to this date. It is called Sarda because before being French (prior to 1860) this area (Savoy) was part of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia.

In spite of its antiquity, these houses weren’t meant to be lived in all year round. Cow herd people owned different chalets at different altitudes and moved in and out according to the transhumance of the herds.

When we moved in there wasn’t running water and we had to do the electricity anew! And as you have noticed, we still don’t have a driveway. It keeps us in good shape.

A note about the beds… As we cleared and cleaned the “attic”, we discovered 6 beds from the time of Napoleon III. They were in bit and pieces. 2 were usable for the girls (I could post a photo of the beds if you wish) and the 4 others we used for the library.

Best,

Robert

**beloitpiper** · 1st July 09, 12:34 AM

Robert, that is a beautiful home. Someday I dream of living in a house like that, surrounded by nature, living totally self-sufficiently.

And your accent is surprisingly non-French! If I met you on the the street I definitely would not guess that you were French (based on how you spoke English)!