The big dream of Chiara and Davide Carrara was a house with charm, history and a large garden. The 188-year-old stone house in Bennwil (BL) fulfilled their dream. Today they live there with their four children.
Davide and Chiara Carrara laugh when asked if it is ever quiet in their house. “No, except maybe in the middle of the night. And even then, not always.” The couple from Bennwil (BL) have four children: Desirèe (8), the reasonable one, Elisa (6), the “diva” for whom everyone always has to wait, Aurora (2.5), full of energy, constantly buzzing around, and Lorenzo (16 months), the friendly one who has to play the baby for his sisters or the dog who patiently goes along with everything – until now.
The way we live
“He’s slowly starting to fight back,” Chiara smiles. The noisy, colourful life is more than OK for the Italian-born wife and the husband from Ticino. The children run up and down stairs and play on all four floors of the big house, while children’s pop songs can be heard through the house. If there’s an argument, it gets loud for a short time, then the game continues. “Children should solve their own conflicts, that’s important to us. But we value mutual respect and getting along with each other.”
The life of the Italian-Swiss couple includes a large, extended family. Grandma Eliane and grandpa Daniele have just arrived. They want to be there on Elisa’s first day of school. In the summer, Davide and Chiara took the children to Lecce, by the sea, to Chiara’s home country. Family, conviviality, good food, nice conversations: they love it all. “But then we like to be alone for a while, go to the woods with the kids, grill a sausage.”
Pasta always works:
the homely kitchen is a hub for the family.
On the old kitchen dresser are the urn and the memories of their stillborn child.
The couple also experiences crises, for example during the renovation of the house. The stillbirth of their child in 2019 was difficult. They say that crises initially caused a rift. “But today we’re even closer.” It is important for both of them that they take time out together without children. “That’s when we go out for dinner together. During the summer holidays we also spent a day alone on the Vespa exploring the coast of Salento.”
The bathroom of the Carrara family.
The retro washbasin blends harmoniously with the new bathroom.
There are plenty of quaint details in the 188-year-old house.
The family renovated the house themselves.
Under the leafy wooden veranda, the family enjoys the last rays of sunshine in the evening.
The garden is a paradise for children.
In 2018, they fulfilled their dream with the purchase of the stately stone house with the cosy wooden arbour. Chiara project-managed the renovation of the house. With great support from family and friends, the wet rooms and the kitchen were installed, walls were torn out, floors were laid, beams were refreshed and walls were painted. Construction time: three months. “That was very exhausting. We are so proud of ourselves as a couple, how we mastered it all.”
Carrara family
- Chiara (35), project and construction manager, co-owner of an architectural office
- Davide (39), industrial engines project manager
- Desirèe (8), Elisa (6), Aurora (2.5) and Lorenzo (1.5)
- House built in 1835; purchase and renovation in 2018, 9 rooms on approx. 280 square metres; big plot with vegetable garden
- Place: Bennwil (BL)
This home story was created in cooperation with “wireltern”.
Text: Anita Zulauf; photos: Valentina Verdesca
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