Guided tour of Salvagny's traditionnal way of living

To go and see the traditional mountain way of living is to discover the natural realities of this environment but also to understand the social and economic history of Savoie and Haute Savoie. There are as many different characters and traditional architectures of chalets as there are regions of habitation, layouts and uses as there are ways of living. Stone found in quarries and wood were the main materials used in the construction of houses. Today some of these old farmhouses still exist, but the evolution of agriculture requires their extension and modernisation. The inhabitants of the cities now come to the mountains to live here or for holidays.

In Savoie and Haute-Savoie, the architecture can change from one valley to another. There are two explanations to this: in the past, because of the isolation, people looked for solutions that could solve their problems in a very local way in the case of simple problems. So if someone came up with something viable, everyone else would do the same. Then they used the materials they could find close to home. It goes without saying that in the past, transporting materials even from one valley to another was an unnecessary expense in terms of time, money and energy. However, the same materials are often used: stone and wood, because in the end, they had to face the same problems that is the cold and isolation for 4 to 5 months during the year. Traditional houses are in fact large volumes that can exceed 500 m2. It should be noted that, in the past, houses were used for families of all generations, but also animals and hay.