HERE YOU WILL FIND...

Your house

Actually there are four houses. Plus two hectares of land with meadows, gardens, woods and waterfalls.

The houses are big enough, but these are not luxurious villas of Russian oligarchs with golden fountains. These are unique stone buildings, with a more than hundred years history. We do not strive to overhaul everything. Rather, we restore and get back to the lost. All the new things that we create here, are possibly done with as much respect as possible.

We have hot water, but in one of these houses we have to heat the tank with a wood stove. Also we use firewood for the heating. The wood stove requires attention and time. But this is offset by the charm of the fire, which can be watched for hours. In addition we warm up with herbal tea and active work. In the cold season the house is pretty fresh. If you are afraid of the cold, don't forget to bring your pijama and wool socks. Otherwise we would suggest you to come in the summer, from June to September.

There is no TV, but there is a projector and a collection of films donated by movie directors who came here. However, we'll talk about entertainment later.

Living rooms, kitchen, "bar", exhibition halls, workshops and gardens are also at your disposal. But doing our best to keep the house clean and tidy we ask to put back everything you have used and not to leave your belongings around in shared spaces.

Your bedroom

Your comfortable bed with clean linens, towels, warm lamps is waiting for you. Most likely, it will be a dormitory for four or five people. When there are not many guests, we can provide a separate room. Also if you wish, we give you a tent to sleep in the fresh air. Please tell us in advance about your preferences.

Food and wine

Usually we have breakfast, lunch and dinner together. It helps us to save time, energy and expenses. The main thing is socialization. People of different ages and with different hobbies gather at the same table. Conversations are lively and easy. We usually have meals at 8am, 1pm and at 7pm.

We pay a lot of attention to healthy food. Our menu is mostly vegetarian. But there are no restrictions, so please remind it in advance if you are vegetarian or vegan or you have particularly allergies. Often the guests introduce us their traditional recipes. So, in addition to Italian dishes, you can enjoy Russian, Chinese, Indian, Peruvian and other culinary delights.

There is always a great wine on our table. We buy it directly from local farmers. We do not force anyone to drink alcohol, but those who drink are invited to leave a contribution of 2 euro a day. So if you say yes to the wine you are welcome to contribute for the entire period of your stay in advance. If 2 euro a day for you is too much, you can cover it with one more hour of work a day.

Neighborhood and transport

Stone Oven House is located 55 km away from Turin, in Rorà, a village with 200 inhabitants. And 6 km away from the nearest town, which you can reach from Turin by public transport: Luserna San Giovanni.

There is no public transport connection from Luserna San Giovanni to Rorà. If you tell us in advance at what time you will arrive we will try to meet you by car in, but car is not always available. Otherwise you can walk following the direction to Rorà and easily hitchhike. The villagers know us and Stone Oven House and they are happy to give a ride. Feel free to invite your driver for a coffee at home, it is a way to show your gratitude. Or just remember to present a little thing like a postcard or a foreign coin to be polite .

At this link more info about how to reach us: http://stoneovenhouse.com/faq-en/

Also on our website you can find information about the neogborhood and the events: http://stoneovenhouse.com

Wifi

We have free WiFi.

People

At Stone Oven House artists, helpers and guests gather together.

Stone Oven House is designed as an art residency. Selected artists are coming here to work on their projects. We believe art and culture are very important in our life and we want to support it. To artists we provide studios and possibilities to create new art and make together this world a little bit better. However, the project would not be possible without helpers and guests. Guests rent the rooms supporting the project financially. With their financial support we can host travelers who want to discover the world without being dependent on money.

So beside artists we bring people with different aims, professions and financial abilities together to communicate and share their experiences.

Usually in Summer time the house is full of people. Especially on July and August it can be a bit crowdy but lots of fun. And sometimes on March–April or October–November we have a very few guests and helpers. It can be super calm and almost empty. Keep it in mind choosing for you the best time to come . What would you prefer: meditative silence or noisy parties?

Activities

The main activities of the Stone Oven House are hospitality, art, renovations and farming. It means that we divide our working time between task dedicated to these main topics. Hospitality includes meeting guests, preparing the rooms, tiding up the spaces and cooking. Art activities include workshops and events. In workshops we help those artists who need to create their art objects and prepare their shows. The main events we organize here are: exhibitions, concerts, pizza parties. During summer time we usually have a new event every weekend. Farming works are: gardening, chopping wood, collecting herbs and fruits, home production.

In our free time we go hiking, visiting neighbor towns, markets, art galleries and interesting people living in the Valley.

Experience

Here you can learn with us how to live surrounded by nature. If you are accustomed to the city, you will begin to perceive all natural elements in a new way. You will understand water, touch fire, feel stone, hear earth, see wind.

If you do not know how, then you'll learn how to bake bread, chop firewood, make soap, grow zucchini, heat a stove, clean a fireplace, pick wild herbs, identify edible mushrooms, roast chestnuts, prepare cement, build walls, make furniture, live without Facebook and turn garbage into something useful.

HOW YOU CAN HELP...

The main tasks of helpers are:

• tiding up,
• serving tables,
• dish washing,
• laundry,
• gardening,
• chopping wood,
• construction works,
• assisting artists.

You will be asked to do only the things you are willing to do. We’ll not be asked to cook food or make construction works if you can not do it. But please let us know in advance what sort of work you prefer and what you would avoid.

Usually we have minimum two helpers, maximum six-seven. We try to divide tasks in the most convenient way for everybody. But sometimes it happens that there are not many helpers around and we ask you to wash dishes three times a day. We have a dishwashing machine and it’s not that hard job but some people easily get bored of such routine. Keep it in mind, we cannot promise you that everyday you’ll have a unique task which will help you to improve skills a lot. Some days just dishes…

 

WHAT WE EXPECT FROM YOU...

Willing to work

First of all, a sincere desire to work and learn. We really hope that you come to us not only for the opportunity to save money on travel.

We do our best to make your stay comfortable and interesting, and we look forward to an honest return from your side. We do need help and therefore we are waiting for you.

Responsibility

We try to be responsible, organized and punctual and expect the same from our helpers. Be sure that you will not change the dates you planned to come and the dates you planned to leave. Be sure you will finish the work you started.

Sometimes, workaway hosts face a situation where the helpers don't meet their expectations and leave before the scheduled date. This creates a lot of problems to the hosts. If we accepted you it means that we rejected other requests. So please be responsible for your request. Our opportunities are limited and we are not ready to accept more than 1-2 workawayers at the same time.

It is impossible to find an immediate substitute. Please do not come with the conviction that if everything is somehow not the way you thought, then you can just immediately go to another place. In case, if you feel uncomfortable doing something, please tell us immediately. We will try to solve the issue.

Diligence 

All the work that you have to do, we also often do ourselves and imagine how long time it takes. If it turns out that it takes three hours for an hourly amount of work, we will try to deal with the problem together. If it turns out that you manage to do it faster, we ask you to share your wisdom.

In any case, do not be offended by our directness. If something is done badly, we will not lie that it is good. But this is not a tragedy. Bad work is the result of a mistake. Learn from mistakes. The main thing is to try to make so that the same mistakes are not repeated systematically.

Flexibility

The work is varied. We will build, break, repair, clean, wash, paint, saw, prick, weed, dig, plant, water, collect and not only. Sometimes you have to do something weird. For example, paint the sculptures of chicken paws in pink or lay out a giant question mark with wooden boards on the ground.

A lot of the work we do outdoors, and the schedule may change depending on the weather. The working time is about 4-5 hours per day, but if one day we worked just 3 hours, the other day we may have to work 7.

Patience

Please think again if the works we mentioned are interesting for you. If you are a graphic designer or you are studying philosophy of art, your skills will be definitely useful, but don't expect to help us only with artistic tasks. This is not possible. We need a various help.

Socializing

Living in community requires some efforts. Especially when it is an international community. Could happen that someones behaviour looks rude to you. Try to forgive it. This person may have a very different cultural context. Please try to be friendly with everyone. And not to seem rude or disrespectful follow the house rules which help to make the community life easier.