Page 41 - A Life - my Live - my path

The journey - coal miner’s community

the war, others emigrated to Switzerland, Germany, France
and Belgium.
41
In 1947, my uncle moved to France with his wife and two
children. For many years he worked on the construction of
the Mont Blanc tunnel.

In 1954, my sister was 5 and I was 3. My grandfather and
father decided to demolish the older part of the house and
rebuild it on two levels.
At that time, all the houses in the village were built of
ashlar. My grandfather and father began to cut some of the
stones, to bake the tiles for the roof and the small tiles for
the bedrooms and living rooms. They also prepared the
quicklime that would cover the walls of the stable.

At almost the same time, to change the look of the buildings
in this region of Italy, the government decided to grant a
substantial bonus to owners who agreed to change the stone
houses and give them a "colonial" look; in other words, cover
the stones with a coat of plaster and paint everything yellow.
To qualify for the bonus that would help pay for some of
the work, my parents agreed to transform the house with
smooth, sun-coloured facades.
In 1992, we undertook major renovation work and
restored all the facades to their original ashlar state.
Spectacular!

41 My uncle Matteo
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