Building a residence with processing room and farm shop
Building a residence with processing room and farm shop
Closer to Queen and Bear
by Max Hugentobler
Queen and Bear. These are the names of the favourite cows of four-year-old Lena and three-year-old Andri. Every day the two siblings visit the stable. Soon they no longer have to walk through half the village.
At first glance, the old farmhouse in the centre of the village of Tschiertschen looks like the perfect home. So cosy and quaint. But the residents, Kaspar and Maja Zumbrunn with the two children Lena and Andri, can hardly wait to move out. The house is not only old and too small for the family. It’s draughty in there, too, and on cold winter days you can’t feed the wood stove in the kitchen fast enough to keep all the rooms warm.
Suddenly it became more expensive
“When we took over my parents’ farm a good year ago, it was already clear that we didn’t want to stay in this house,” says Maja. Because their present residence in the middle of the village is not part of the business. Instead of investing a lot of money in buying and renovating their house, the young mountain farmers decided to build a new one right next to the main stable, which is situated on the edge of the village. Because they had consistently saved money before taking over the business, it was financially affordable. But when it turned out after the start of construction that the excavation had to be additionally secured in the steep terrain and almost the same day the van packed up, Zumbrunns were suddenly in financial trouble. “It took a load off our mind when Swiss Mountain Aid assured support,” says Kaspar.
In the meantime, the building shell has been completed and the family goes to the construction site almost every day. Kaspar is often there anyway, because he helps a lot in bulding the house. Today Lena and Andri enjoy the newly installed windows in their future rooms, but only for a few minutes. Then, they go next door to their favourite cows in the stable. From their new home they can walk there easily. •
Source: Berghilf-Ziitig, No. 103, Spring 2019
Schweizer Berghife: <link http: www.berghilfe.ch external-link seite:>www.berghilfe.ch
Schweizer Berghilfe (Swiss Mountain Aid) is a non-profit-organisation exclusively financed through donations and has the goal of improving the foundation of existence and living conditions in the Swiss Mountain region. It promotes the self-help of the mountain population and thus contributes to the development of economic and living spaces, the preservation of regional culture, the maintenance of the cultural landscape and the counteraction of migration. Support from Swiss Mountain Aid triggers a multiple of investments that primarily create added value and jobs for local businesses.
(Translation Current Concerns)