The beautiful wild village of Zonca in the Italian alps near Dommodossola is in urgent need of repairs. Many roofs are currently in bad shape and without maintenance there is a real danger of collapse. Many historical buildings could potentially be lost in the next two to five years.
For this reason we are looking for volunteers who would like to give 3-5 hours of work a day to help us restore and maintain this village. If you are interested in community building, permaculture and the restoration of historic rural homes, this project may be exactly what you are looking for! Interested in living and/or working in a wild beautiful, super quiet place in a pristine natural environment? Zonca has many houses for rent and for sale.
You will find a welcoming community of beautiful and wise people with extensive knowledge and skills. There are currently two families with children and kids will not be bored. There is a wonderful music room, fireplaces and tables around which to gather, play music, sing and so on!
As a visitor of almost 20 years I decided to buy a house in the village last year (2017) using crowdfunding. I enjoy the quiet, the forest which is all around and I very much love all the people in this wonderful place.
Membership & Visitors
- Current members: 20
- Open to new members
- Open to visitors
Zonca is not a community but a village. People who are interested in buying or renting houses should first spend some time in the village and get to know us. They should also do some volunteer work with others to learn what types of work there are and how hard it might be to live here. I would certainly suggest multiple visits and stays of longer than 3 weeks as well as trying different seasons. Since Zonca is not an official community there are no criteria for admittance. However, we all depend on each other and live in close proximity so it is obvious that you need to get along well with others and to understand what it will take to buy and maintain a house, work with others and also learn what you can contribute to others and to the world by living here. There are in any case many houses available for rent and to buy.
Images & Video
Funny – I am doing the same thing in San Marco – also near Domo 😉
Good luck to your project – I am sure our ways will cross some time.
best
Lukas
Hey Lukas, please come and visit! Connections are good and useful!
hi, i love the project and i love the village of Zonca, right now it is quite difficult for me to go, i have my work and a child of 2,5yo but i will love to visit one day. I am looking for a change in my life, i know something is wrong and i think i have to move to a cooperative small healthier comunity like yours.
hopefully some day I can visit for some weeks.
i am an architect and i specialliced in fashion , i live in buenos aires and i have never wanted big citys.
i would appreciate if you can tell me where cani find more about houses for rental or to buy there.
thanks very much
Min
Children are absolutely welcome and over Christmas we had about 7-8 kids staying with their parents. If you are interested in volunteering or renting and living with us for a while, please visit the website zonca.info and contact the individual hosts there. Steffano and Miki can tell you more.
It looks like the most beautiful place on earth ! Oh how I would love to be bold enough to move there and be of help . Please let me know what a small house would cost in USD . I am going to research further and may have additional questions. For now the first one is , would we try to be as sustainable as possible ? For someone that doesn’t have huge savings to bring with them how would they provide for themselves and contribute to the whole ? Thank you ,Mickey
I bought a small house for ±15.000 euro. I don’t know how much that is in $. We are absolutely trying to be as sustainable as possible. That is not always easy living in a remote village. We need a car to get to markets etc. But in general everything we do is done with sustainability in mind. Making a living is not easy. Local wages are much lower that the European standard. And Italy has massive unemployment. The way to make a living is to organise workshops and bring in guests/participants. This could be on a wide range of topics and must be consistent with the surroundings which allow for e.g. workshops in and about nature and sustainability, yoga, art, building and so on.
Hi Daniel!
I have sent an email, looking forward to hearing from you.
Dominic H
Hello is there any email so we can contact you? We would like to visit – help etc. We are travelling in a camper, so is this place easily accessible or not?
Please get back when you have time
Many thanks
Jan and Elisabet
Dear Daniel,
this sounds like a dream. How brave and wonderful. I’m impressed, and would like to know more, if there are possibilities to come and volunteer for a while. I’ve been developing myself in different areas that I hope will allow me to be more self-reliant. Not in a financial model, but in a survival one. Including people regeneration and wellbeing.
With lots of good wishes,
Dita
Hi Daniel – this is Joachim writing 🙂
I´ll be in Zonca next time from 14. Oct until beginning of November.
Will you be there?
Hey Daniel, 2021, corona, hoe gaat het met het project? Vraag het me af omdat ik met 2-3 personen opzoek ben naar een community om te leven, allemaal kunnen we werken, en met de juiste begeleiding helpen met het restaureren van het dorp, zelf persoonlijk houdt ik van oude gebouwen en oude kunsten. Graag verneem ik wat de mogelijkheden zijn voor een bezoek/verblijf bij jullie in deze tijd periode.
Mvg Richard Beekman
hi, i wanted to know if there were still possibilities to come and visit you this summer? two adults plus one child.
All the best 🍒
Pauline