Clear mountain stream pooling among boulders below cloud-covered peaks

Cold water · Thick walls · Paths from the door

Houses and B&Bs on the Banks of Mountain Streams

Nineteen properties in high valleys of the Alps and the northern Apennines, all of them within earshot of running water: stone houses let whole, rooms in family-run B&Bs, and two old mills converted for larger groups. Every one has a drying room, a wood stove, boots stored by the door and a marked path leaving from the gate. Breakfast is made in the house rather than delivered in packets, dinner can be arranged, and the owners will tell you honestly which route is still under snow.

Houses & Rooms Check the Valley

About us

Nineteen Houses, Nine Valleys, One Standard

The collection was built slowly by two mountain guides and a builder who spent years staying in places that photographed well and failed on the practical details: no drying room after a wet day, breakfast at eight when the route needed a six o'clock start, a heating system that took four hours to warm a stone house, and nobody who could say whether the bridge on the high path had survived the winter. Every property we took on had to fix those problems before it was offered to anyone.

Restoration follows the same logic each time. Roofs and drainage first, then insulation behind the stone rather than in front of it, then heating designed to hold the building at a steady temperature through the winter instead of being fired up on a Friday evening. Wood stoves stay because they are worth having, but nobody depends on them. Windows are timber, floors are stone or board, and the furniture is chosen to survive boots and rucksacks rather than to look untouched in a photograph.

The people who run the houses are from the valleys they sit in — farmers, guides, retired foresters and a former ski patroller — and their local knowledge is the most valuable thing we offer. They know the state of the paths, when the refuge above opens, which farm sells cheese, where the road ices first and what the stream does after three days of rain. A share of every booking goes into the local path maintenance fund, and our teams take part in the spring clearance after snowmelt.

Stone mountain village in snow with peaks behind

Mossy boulders in a fast, clear mountain river

Advantages

Six Things That Matter at Altitude

None of them photograph well, and all of them decide whether a week in the mountains works.

A Path From Every Door

Every house sits on or within two minutes of a marked route, so nobody spends the first hour of a holiday driving to a trailhead. From the doors you can reach ridge walks, valley circuits, waterfalls, a refuge, a lake and at least one route suitable for a family with small children. Each property holds current maps, a printed sheet of routes with real times rather than optimistic ones, and an owner who walked most of them last week. In winter the same doors open onto snowshoe and touring routes.

Drying Rooms That Work

Mountains make people wet, and a radiator in a bedroom is not a solution. Every property has a separate heated room with hanging rails, a boot rack over a warm floor, a dehumidifier and space for rucksacks, capable of turning a saturated jacket around overnight. Ski and board storage, a workbench with wax and tools, and a hose for washing mud off boots are all provided. Guests can also borrow poles, snowshoes, head torches and dry bags rather than carrying them across a continent.

Warm Stone, Not Cold Charm

A stone house at altitude is either genuinely warm or genuinely miserable. Ours are insulated properly, fitted with heating that runs continuously at low output, glazed with timber-framed double units and dried by controlled ventilation, so the building holds temperature and bedding never feels damp. Wood stoves are lit before arrival and the basket is filled daily. Hot water comes from tanks sized for a group returning together, which means the last person in still gets a proper shower.

Breakfast for the Hour You Leave

In the B&Bs breakfast starts whenever the guests need it, including at five in the morning for a long route, and it is cooked rather than laid out in wrappers: eggs, mountain cheese, cured meat, bread from the valley bakery, yoghurt, honey, fruit and coffee that has been thought about. Packed lunches are made to order the night before. In the self-catering houses the larder is stocked before arrival with the same products and a list of who supplies them.

Honest Conditions Information

Before you book we will tell you what the valley is actually like in that week: whether the high paths are clear, if the refuge is open, how much snow is lying, what the stream levels are doing and whether the road needs winter tyres. During a stay the owners give the same information every evening for the following day. If a plan is unrealistic, they say so and suggest something better rather than letting guests find out at two thousand metres.

Open All Year, Priced All Year

All nineteen properties stay open through the winter and through the quiet months of spring and late autumn, when the valleys are empty and prices drop substantially. Minimum stays shorten out of season rather than lengthening, and long-stay rates exist for anyone spending a month writing, recovering or working remotely. Owners are present in November and March, which is when guests discover that the mountains are at their most interesting and almost entirely to themselves.

Services

Ways to Stay and What Comes With It

Rooms, whole houses, guided days, transfers, long stays and group bookings.

Tall waterfall dropping through a rocky gorge

B&B Rooms

Rooms in eleven family-run houses, from single rooms for solo walkers to family rooms with bunks, all with private bathrooms, heating that works and a window that opens onto the valley. Rates include breakfast at any hour, use of the drying room, storage for equipment and route advice from the owners. Dinner can be added at most properties, packed lunches are prepared on request, and dogs are welcome in six of the houses at no extra charge.

Whole Houses and Mills

Eight self-catering stone houses sleeping four to fourteen, including two converted mills with the wheel race still running beside the terrace. All have full kitchens, wood stoves, drying rooms, gardens or terraces on the stream and enough space for a group to spread out. Beds are made, wood is stacked, the larder is stocked with valley products and the heating is on before you arrive. A cook can be arranged for one or more evenings during the stay.

Guided Days in the Mountains

Qualified guides take guests on ridge walks, via ferrata, canyoning in the summer torrents, snowshoe circuits and ski touring, matched to the group's actual ability rather than its ambitions. Equipment is provided, groups stay small and days are shortened without argument if the weather turns. Beginners are welcome on everything, and a guide can also simply walk a valley route with a family and explain what they are looking at.

Transfers and Car-Free Arrival

Most of the valleys can be reached by train and a short bus or transfer, and we arrange the last leg for guests arriving without a car, including luggage transport between houses for anyone walking from valley to valley. Winter transfers use vehicles that are genuinely equipped for the roads. A shuttle to trailheads and back is run by several of the houses, so a linear route can be walked without returning to the start.

Long Stays and Quiet Months

Monthly rates in November, March, April and May cover heating and firewood, weekly cleaning and linen, a desk with a reliable connection and a grocery delivery on a fixed day. Two of the houses are set up specifically for remote work, with a study looking at the stream and a stove that will run all day. Writers, researchers and people recovering from illness make up most of these bookings, and several return every year.

Groups, Courses and Celebrations

Larger houses and the two mills can be taken for family gatherings, walking clubs, yoga and writing retreats or small celebrations of up to thirty, with catering arranged from valley kitchens, a coordinator on site and transfers from the station. We also host mountain skills courses, botany weeks and photography workshops taught by people who live here. Bookings run midweek or over full weeks, and we cap group size at what each village can comfortably absorb.

Contacts

Bookings and Valley Conditions

Tell us the dates, the number of guests and what you intend to do — walking, touring, climbing, fishing or nothing at all — and we will suggest the valley and the house that suits, with an honest account of what the paths and the weather will be doing.

Guided days, transfers, long stays, courses and group bookings are arranged through the same office.

Office

Via Cavour 10, 00184 Roma, Italy

Phone

+39 06 4782 3390

highcreekhouses@live.com

Open

All year; office daily 08:00–20:00