by: Borgata Coletta | data 14/11/2022
***NEWS***
In 2017 we met in the Ossola Valley, and we immediately understood that we were linked by something: the love for the mountains, their landscapes and their history.
We soon started taking care of the Coletta. In this place we have found an outlet where we can combine all these aspects by dedicating time and passion to something new. Something that could inspire the idea of rebirth, and not abandonment.
But what is Coletta? Coletta is a small group of rural buildings in the Anzasca valley, in the municipality of Calasca-Castiglione. Stone houses in a terraced landscape cut by the GTA route that crosses the whole Piedmont from the north to the south.
Before 2018, however, just a small section was visible from the trail, and like so many places in the Alps, was about to be forgotten. So for fun and for curiosity, we started trying to change his fate. Taking out houses and terraces from the darkness of the wood and the tangle of brambles, we started cleaning the lawns, rebuilding some of the ancient dry stone walls and installing a small apiary.
Together with the works we began to observe, to learn, to talk with those who lived that place and to design the buildings that surrounded us, producing a relief of the village as a memory and study of this traditional architecture.
The more the sun warmed its stones, the more our gratitude and amazement grew in the eyes of the travelers who passed by. Cleaning brought back the sun, and with it a thousand sounds, colors and scents: the hum of bees and insects, the nuances of wildflowers, the seasonal return of grazing cows, the crackling of the fire in the stove, the song of crickets in the heat sunny days, the sunset light filtering through the window, the laughter of a shared lunch.
All this beauty made us understand that this place deserves even more. We have installed a small apiary and today we would like to create a honey extraction laboratory inside the stable of one of the houses: the "Casa Grande"; a place where you can pack the honey of our bees. A place where you can catch the colors and scents of this territory, turning them to flavours.
The project is there, the desire to roll up our sleeves too, but to make this dream come true we need some help because there are so many works to do.
We started by having the roof of the “Casa Grande” rebuilt, which was an urgent and important job. The works, even if slowly, are progressing but a lot still needs to be done; among all, it is becoming urgent to bring drinking water and electricity, which today are totally absent.
1. BRINGING ENERGY
The first target of 4000 euros will be used to bring two things that this place has never seen: drinking water and electricity from renewable sources. Two important assets, necessary to guarantee 100% usability.
Together with drinking water, systems for the recovery of gray water and rainwater will also come so that sustainability remains part of these places.
This first step is fundamental for us not only in order to create of the honey extraction laboratory but also to be able to organize meetings and workshop and welcome all those who have contacted us in recent years asking us to come to know us and help.
2. PRODUCE
Once the first goal has been achieved, the next target will concern the realization, inside the “Casa Grande”, of a honey extraction laboratory. In this way the entire honey production process could be done in the same place safely and efficiently. We want to build it in one of the old stables but to do it we need to do maintenance and implement the necessary interventions to make it compliant with the law.
We believe that ours is a simple project in a difficult territory.
Simple because it is made up of images, sounds and smells that taste like home.
Difficult because it is often forgotten and considered uncomfortable.
Your contribution is a fundamental part of this journey. You will help to fix a place and as in a drywall made up of a thousand stones even the smallest donation will contribute the purpose.
We are Stefano and Paola, from Ossola and Turin, 34 and 29 years old. We love mountains and the little things. We live in Turin where we work and cultivate some of our thousand passions but during the weekend we dedicate our time to Coletta. Here, between dry stone walls, vegetable garden, wood, walks and good food we recharge our energies by reconnecting with nature.
We like to experiment, listen, get our hands dirty and make mistakes. We love to observe the world in silence but when we are busy redoing a drywall we do not stop humming.
Together we are "borgata Coletta": landscape, history, territory and wonderful sunsets.
Stefano Perri: 34 anni, ossolano. Laureato in architettura e precedentemente diplomato in agraria ha lavorato sia nella ristorazione sia in ambito architettonico, ma alla fine è sempre tornato alle sue montagne. Multitasking e versatile, da qualche anno segue con passione nel tempo libero un suo piccolo apiario.
Paola Treves: 29 anni, torinese. Laureata in architettura e diplomata in liceo scientifico, lavora nel campo architettonico. Ama la montagna vissuta sin da bambina in un piccolo alpeggio nelle Valli di Lanzo, dove torna sempre. Silenziosa, attenta e sempre pronta a sporcarsi le mani .
Assieme siamo "borgata Coletta": paesaggio, storia, territorio e tramonti stupendi.
