Senechoir is a historic home with an old chestnut drying house. Its name is a modern play on words, combining the hamlet’s place name, Sénéchaz, with the French word séchoir (“drying house”). Reborn as a place preserving the rural past – a treasure chest of stories and traditions – this mountain jewel invites you to slow down, like the smoke that for centuries protected the Lys Valley’s “bread of the woods”.
Dating back to the 19th century, the building is arranged over three levels. The basement consists of a single room originally used as a stable. On the ground floor there are two adjoining rooms, once used as a kitchen-bedroom and a storeroom. Upstairs, two further rooms complete the layout: the former chestnut drying room and the hayloft.
The small settlement of Vers-Sénéchaz lies at 838 metres above sea level, on a panoramic natural terrace overlooking the Lys Valley. It sits on the south-western side of the Monte Crabun massif (Val d’Aosta foothills of the Monte Rosa). Below the village, a hamlet of Lillianes, the Lys river flows through one of the valley’s most beautiful stretches before joining the Dora Baltea at Point-Saint-Martin.
The growth of this hamlet – like many nearby clusters – is linked to an old hillside and mountain-pass route that climbs the slope from Fey. Today, after the small settlements of Le Miriou and Vers-Riasseu, the road reaches Vers-Fey, where the chapel of Saints Philip and James stands. In the past, these communities were vital to the local rural economy, focused mainly on herding and forestry.
The history of Sénéchaz is closely tied to that of Lillianes, a village that in the Middle Ages was ruled by the Vallaise family, feudal lords of the lower Lys Valley. Long linked to Perloz, Lillianes had its own parish from 1614 and later became an independent municipality in 1762.
The whole valley is a symbolic place for Val d’Aosta’s resistance. This is where the Brigata Lys was born and operated, celebrated at the Resistance Museum in Perloz. The Battle of the Lys Valley left an enduring mark on collective memory: it took place on 25 July 1944 in the Issime area and cost the lives of many young people, yet it revealed to Nazi-fascist forces the real capability of the partisans and remains one of the most effective partisan actions in Val d’Aosta.
The gra (or graà), the drying house, is unquestionably the most distinctive room in the whole complex – and the only one of its kind still standing in the hamlet. It is an important witness to late-19th-century rural tradition and to the first half of the 20th century: this is where the chestnuts gathered by Sénéchaz families were brought.
The gra’s primary purpose is to dry freshly harvested chestnuts, a key step for both preservation and processing.
Inside, the gra was arranged on two levels: on the lower level (fucular, or fire room) a slow, steady fire was lit and maintained. Heat and smoke rose through a grate to the upper level (plank, or drying floor), made of a perforated loft or grid where the chestnuts were spread in an even layer.
Drying was a complex process that could last from ten days to three weeks – or longer. The temperature had to be checked constantly to avoid cooking the chestnuts or producing excessive smoke. Once dry, the chestnuts were dropped from the grid and, in some cases, beaten (with a dedicated stick or pestle) to separate the flesh from the hardened shell and inner skin.
Ventilation came from small openings near the roof that allowed smoke and excess moisture to escape, ensuring good airflow. The dried chestnuts were then sorted and were ready to be stored for a long time or taken to the mill to be ground into flour.
As tradition dictated, the stable is on the lowest level of the building. This strategic choice met both thermal and structural needs. The body heat of animals – cattle, sheep and goats – provided valuable natural warmth to the floors above, crucial in an Alpine environment with long, harsh winters. At the same time, carving out a solid underground space created a strong base for the entire structure, ensuring stability on steep ground.
Stables were vital spaces for local farming and pastoral communities, both for food and for production. Even manure, collected in the nearby outdoor manure pit, played an essential role as fertilizer.
Today, in many homes across the valley, stables – once the beating heart of the household economy – have been converted into functional rooms: taverns, cellars or storage areas. In the most careful renovations, as in this case, the use may change but the original layout and building materials are preserved, keeping the atmosphere of the past alive.
The hayloft is accessible from the floor level of the northern terrace. Originally, it was practically divided into two parts by a wooden partition, and served different families. In small mountain dwellings like this, this space was an essential feature.
Typically located on the upper floor, but easily accessible, the hayloft served an insulating function from a thermal perspective, protecting the environment below from the intense cold of winter – in our case, the ground floor used by the family. Incorporated into the dwelling, it allowed fodder to be easily passed into the stable’s mangers, without too much movement outside.
Haylofts were usually kept airy and with constant ventilation. They had to be at a certain height above the ground, at most on the ground floor: this guaranteed maximum protection from moisture and ground frost.
The harvesting and conservation of forage constituted a fundamental annual passage for the community. After the summer haymaking in the alpine pastures, the hay was brought back down to the valley and stored with meticulous care in the barn. Careful arrangement was crucial to optimize space and preserve the quality of the forage.