The Alpiness coliving vision
When Fabienne and I opened Alpiness coliving in 2023, we had two main goals:
- Build a home and community for remote workers in the Alps: trying to show that life in a small mountain village can be as good (if not better) as in the city
- Contribute to our village and local community one project at a time: building bridges, not bubbles, for lasting positive impact.
Here is an overview of what we’ve achieved so far at Alpiness and what’s our vision for the future:
A home & community for remote workers and outdoor lovers
Small rural villages like ours are slowly dying all across Europe. Most younger people move to the cities to study or work and never come back, slowly leading to rural depopulation. Meanwhile, more and more people can work remotely, but often feel lonely and disconnected from nature, living in densely populated areas. That’s why we think a place like Alpiness can build bridges between these two worlds.
Living in a rural mountain village like ours has many advantages:
- You’re surrounded by beautiful nature and incredible mountains;
- It’s quiet with over 300 sunny days a year;
- All imaginable outdoor activities are right from our doorstep;
- The cost of living is much cheaper than in cities (many guests are surprised how affordably they live at Alpiness, even if we are in Switzerland);
- Fewer distractions let you slow down, find balance, and focus on what matters most right now;
- You can have the best cheese from the local cheese factory every day.
A common narrative we hear is that villages like ours lack activities and life feels bland. At Alpiness, we challenge that narrative. Since opening in 2023, we’ve mainly focused on community – hosting 200+ remote workers at 90%+ occupancy rate with shared dinners from Monday to Friday and countless group activities! We invite all colivers to participate, cocreate the experiences, share ideas, support each other, and adventure together – forging deep connections and a vibrant community.
Of course, we also provide productivity spaces – three coworking areas with office chairs, monitors, a call room, and fast Wi-Fi – because we all need time to work on our projects. We also have multiple communal spaces, a gym & climbing wall, a fully equipped kitchen. But that’s standard infrastructure for most colivings, what truly matters is the connections between the people, the shared moments, and what they create together. So far we’ve done pretty solid job – see what our colivers think of Alpiness.
Let’s build mountain utopia together: the long term vision
We’ve long dreamed of community members moving here – and it’s happening faster than expected – already five people have relocated to our village, with others seriously considering it. That’s incredible!
The coliving model works beautifully for mid-term stays – most guests come and go after 1-3 months, but we’ve been thrilled to see many returning to Alpiness (with more than a 50% return rate). The Alpiness returnees have formed deeper connections to our valley and community. They come back again and again, further strengthening connections with us, fellow colivers, and locals – enough that some have made our village their permanent base (a few even bought property here).
It is thrilling for us – we’ve long dreamed of a permanent community of like minded people in our village, and now it’s becoming reality! We don’t need crowds, reaching 10-15 people would have enough momentum to spark our mountain utopia.
Imagine: You live in a peaceful village surrounded by infinite mountain playground. But you’re not alone, other like minded people decided to do the same and share adventures, moments and some meals together all year round. At the center of the village, there is this coliving space that keeps bringing new faces & energy. There is also a public coworking & event space where you can work from and gather for games, movies or skillshares, and so much more!
Does that sound appealing? Come and check it out! You might like what we are building here! 😉
How we contribute to our village and local community
The success of Alpiness as a coliving and a community was an important milestone. It’s the foundation that allows us to have the freedom & headspace to invest in creative rural projects. Without it, constant financial struggles and battles to fill beds would tell a very different story.
From day one, we intentionally chose a location for maximum impact – targeting municipalities facing “rural mountain challenges” (aging populations, fewer jobs, limited infrastructure). We pitched our coliving vision to people in charge locally – municipality presidents, tourism board heads and only pursued properties in welcoming villages for synergies. That’s how we landed here – read more.
So how do we contribute to our local community?
The inherit impact of our coliving model
The coliving naturally attracts a different crowd than typical tourists:
- Colivers stay 1-3 months on average—far longer than typical tourists’ few days;
- Colivers live like locals – working weekdays, shopping at village stores, and exploring in their free time;
- Unlike tourists chasing valley hotspots, colivers come to Alpiness as much for community as for the stunning surrounding nature;
- Unlike tourists crowding during summer and winter peaks, colivers stay year-round.
Most destinations would dream to have guests who stay longer, travel slower, and visit beyond peak seasons, right?
Trava: our public coworking and event space
In partnership with our local municipality, which provides the space for free in our village’s former primary school, in 2025 we opened “Trava“, a public coworking and event space run as a separate nonprofit. It aims to:
- Provide a public coworking space that is open 7/7 – 24/24 to anyone that needs it (people living here, tourists, secondary residencies, colivers);
- Create a third space where people can meet and organise events;
- Foster collaboration and solidarity among villagers and colivers alike;
- Encourage sustainable, shared use of community spaces;
- Host cultural, sports, and educational events.
We see huge potential in Trava – it’s open to everyone and designed for maximum flexibility. Right now, it serves as a coworking space by day and events space by night. It has become our popular monthly board game nights venue, where villagers and colivers connect. It has also hosted yoga, pilates, Mario Kart tournaments, avalanche courses, and more.
If you want to know more, check the Trava website here.
Our local cinema revival
Since September 2025, we are involved in a non profit organization aiming to revive our village’s long-closed cinema – a casualty of rural decline. Fabienne is a founding member, while Ben serves as the association’s webmaster.
Why did we get involved in this project?
Villages like ours lack local cinemas. Residents need to drive down 45 minutes to Sion for a movie. But we got lucky with a fully functional room waiting for revival by motivated locals. Beyond weekly screenings of fresh films for all ages, it creates a gathering spot (that is not a bar) and another reason to embrace village life over the city!
Check out the cinema website here (and yes, we also have movies in English from time to time).
The community garden
In the past, gardening thrived in our village – most land between homes grew seasonal fruits and vegetables (May-October). But nowadays, supermarket convenience and an aging population mean less and less people gardening (a shame, as it also kept the village prettier).
When we bought the Alpiness building, a neighbor offered us their land for summer gardening. Fabienne and I had ZERO experience, but we said yes anyway – nothing to lose but time, and we figured learning to grow our own veggies would be fun. It’s been hard work with plenty of lessons, but the results have been rewarding:
- We managed to grow a lot of vegetables – shared for free in the coliving, reducing summer community dinner costs;
- Its central village location sparked conversations with new neighbors – locals naturally stopped by with advice while we gardened – probably our most effective way to connect with them;
- We also invite colivers to join in, with varying success by group. Most have little gardening experience, but hands-on time teaches best;
- Our large compost system nourishes the soil twice yearly while slashing trash output.
That’s it for now – but stay tuned as we update this page with more valley projects. And if you have any question, feel free to reach out to us here 🙂 .
