Dolomiti.house: world’s first Kickstarter sustainable Guest House immersed in the Dolomites mountains and born from the trees that the storm has destroyed.

For the past 2 years, a couple of skiers have been acting on a dream to build a sustainable guest house on Italian Dolomites helping to heal what the Vaia storm destroyed in 2018. 

In the next chapters we want to tell you our story on how reuse felled trees in the most sustainable way to benefit the environment, local communities and relaunch tourism.

Our Journey is divided into five chapters, please read all the story until the end.

On October 29, 2018, the Vaia storm hits the North-Eastern regions of Italy by wind gusts exceeding 200 km h-1. The forests in these regions have been seriously damaged. In the region of Veneto more than 12 thousand fallen trees have been observed – an equivalent of 2,5 million cubic meters of wood. 

The low pressure area can be seen as encompassed in the general October-November 2018 Italian windstorm season. It has been estimated to have caused damages for almost 3 billion euros (2.809.400.000).

A phenomenon of unprecedented magnitude for Italy, which marks a scar in the history of our territory.

After the storm, we immediately thought about how to roll up his sleeves and use the timber wood that had been the victim of that incredible disaster by  identifying a solution to make it useful for reviving the local economy and tourism.

Our solution

Create a new Guest House entirely built with the wood of the felled trees.

But the goal is still far away

What have we already done?

• We bought the house in a really small community on the north of Italy, close the tourist scene and the most important UNESCO world heritage destinations.
• We finished the first apartment on the ground floor.
• We have the wood of all the trees that the storm has destroyed and that’s all we need to build the remaining apartments.

What’s next?

The goal is still far away, but we want to start immediately by restoring the next apartment and creating a completely sustainable Guest House before the end of August 2021.

We will restore and reopen all the apartments in 9 months of hard work!  

Our project based on sustainability and the reuse of wood will bring a refreshing change from accommodations offered here in the Italian Dolomites.

The Dolomites have always had an enormous impact on the imagination of all those who have seen them. No one has remained immune to their extraordinary fascination, to the extent so that they are universally considered “the most beautiful mountains on Earth”. 

On June 26, 2009, Italy’s stunning Dolomite mountains have been declared a United Nations World Heritage Site.

The beauty and diversity of the landscape of the Italian Dolomites alone will enchant you – in every season. Because this holiday region always has its own unique and irresistible appeal. 

Famed for winter skiing and summer hiking and climbing opportunities, the Dolomites are a section of the Alps in northeastern Italy, running roughly from Pieve di Cadore in the east to the Adige River in the west. 

Marmolada, close to our house, is the highest peak, at nearly 11.000 feet. 

The dramatic and craggy mountains are famed for their unique colors, which are the result of their partial formations as undersea coral colonies before being pushed upward millions of years ago.

Our Guest House

Our guest house is located in “Cencenighe Agordino”, a beautiful small village in the middle of Agordina Valley and at the heart of Dolomites.

We are close to the village of Alleghe and Falcade is especially suitable for families with children and for those looking for peace and silence during a relaxing and restful holiday in Dolomites. From here you can start  walks and excursions along Agordino’s valley and mountains.
 

Apartments descriptions

There are two room apartments with cooking corner equipped with: fridge with freezer,  coffee machine and toaster. Each apartment have one separate bedrooms, living room with LCD television and bathroom with, shower, hairdryer and towels’ dryer.

And for holidays with top comfort you can make the most of further services thanks our special Suite with bathroom and Jacuzzi.

The Big public parking space just in front of our building, complete our offer.

Dolomiti.house was born from an idea of Alessandro & Alessandra, a couple united by a strong passion for winter sports and mountains.

Let’s introduce ourselves

Alessandro is a digital marketing manager with an entrepreneurial spirit and energetic approach. 

Alessandra is a communication manager with a great communication and problem solving skills with wide knowledge and experience. 

Their financial skills, high attitudes to Business satisfaction and relationships always drive projects to success.

Our dream

Alessandro and Alessandra have a common dream: create family-run structure, which wants to make guests feel at home, enjoying the relaxation of the amazing windows view, providing the best in terms of service and safeguarding the environment of their beloved mountains.

 Our mission pivot around 4 main pillar:

We try to reduce to the minimum the consumption of natural resources, the expense of energy or the emissions and they take special care of the waste treatment so their environmental impact is as low as possible.

Our guest house is designed respecting the environment and the area where is located: 

• Using low-consumption illumination and water-saving systems based on solar panels
• Having had certain environmental, social and cultural principles into account at the time of its design
• Respecting the natural surrounding, both in social and natural terms. This means not contaminating and respecting the local culture
• Basing the main part of its energetic supply in renewable energies
• Using organic materials on items such as towels or bed sheets
• Respecting the bioclimatic construction rules, that seek to reduce to the minimum the use of heating and air conditioning systems 

As much as we wish it wasn’t so, every part of the world is susceptible to some sort of disaster. These natural disasters can hit various communities across the globe. Typical catastrophic like the “Vaia Storm” are quite devastating and challenging for those directly affected. Not only is there the terror of facing these disasters, but there’s high-stress levels about homes disappearing, familial safety, and so much more.

When natural disasters strike, most people often look for ways to help with any relief efforts. Whether it’s a disaster in your country or across the globe, there are plenty of ways to provide support.

A famous global team of humanitarians recently set out to better understand the connection between the efforts humanitarian organizations take in those early days and weeks when responding to natural disasters, and the impact our actions have on the longer-term recovery. The study found that two overarching factors can drastically impact the speed and sustainability of community recovery:

1. Rebuilding local economies

First, supporting individual livelihoods and businesses, as well as the ecosystem of organizations and services that support them, can speed up post-disaster recovery and have a positive ripple effect across the community. We must focus on rebuilding local economies and supporting local businesses in parallel to, not after, launching a response to meet basic needs.

2. Building resilience to disasters

The other key takeaway of the study found that, perhaps not surprisingly, the most efficient way to help communities cope and recover from a disaster is to support disaster preparedness and build resilience in disaster prone areas before a crisis even hits. Doing this helps households and communities better prepare, withstand and bounce back from natural disasters and cyclical crises like flooding and drought.

We want to act in exactly these two directions, investing in an area heavily hit by a disastrous storm.

Uprooted trees. Mighty trunks snapped in two like matchsticks. A trail of destruction as far as the eye could see. This was the scene that greeted local population as they woke on the morning of 30 October 2018.

As soon as this once-in-a-century storm had passed, work began to clear away the damage left in its wake. This work continued on into the winter months. Forest roads destroyed or damaged by the form were repaired, improved, widened and in some cases completely rebuilt using funds made available by the local forestry commission. This was an essential first step in the cleaning-up process since these roads were essential to bring in specialist machinery needed to clear away the fallen trees. 

One of the main reasons why it is so important to clear away the fallen wood as quickly as possible is a six-legged parasite particularly feared in the world of forestry: the bark beetle. As its name suggests, the bark beetle bores its way into trees and lays its eggs there. It reproduces especially quickly in dead wood, but soon spreads to living trees. Workers from the local forestry commission are currently hard at work setting up bark beetle traps in order to monitor the development and propagation of this small parasite. The entire region which is affected is being closely observed in order to identify and remove such trees as quickly as possible.

This is the reason why we want to build all the apartments entirely in wood. Walls, ceilings and even bedside tables come from trees felled by Vaia storm.

Mountains provide essential fresh water to billions of people worldwide, are home to wildlife, flora and fauna and offer a place for mountain lovers to be inspired, to play and to adventure.

But building in the mountains is no easy task. Extreme environments have to be respected and make the cost (and task) of bringing a building to fruition even tougher. But it makes the final results even more thrilling.

Dolomiti.house is a place for mountain lovers. Ski, trekking or climbing: everyone will find something for themselves. 

Enjoy a leisurely and carefree start of the day, whilst savouring the stunning views of Dolomites mountains. Our apartments are characterized by sunburnt wood, natural colors and fabrics as well as a careful design and greatest attention to every detail. The enchanting bedrooms, the comfortable wood kitchen, the cosy living-rooms provide a perfect mix of natural furnishings, stylishness and cosiness. Enjoy your stay in our roomy, calm and cosy apartments which will make you feel at home and totally comfortable.

Back this project and start to plan the trip of your dreams with us! 

For additional information please visit our website: www.dolomiti.house

Our Rewards is our way of saying “thank you” on behalf of all communities affected by the storm.

Rewards conditions

Those who win the nights in our suite/apartments will have to book the stay using the website (http://www.dolomiti.house/prenota-online-casa-vacanze/), based on the remaining availability at the time of booking. The rewards is valid until 01/12/2023.

At the campaign end of the campaign, all the people who have won the stay will receive a coupon with which to book thesuite or apartments at the kickstarter rate. Please await your coupon code before booking!