Shepherd's house

The shepherd's house is called like this because on its portal is depicted the figure of a shepherd, drawn by the local artist Miza and inspired by a character in one of the stories from "La Ragazza di Pietra Durante" by Bice Lapenna. However, by structure and appearance, it was far from a home for people of humble means. Its height, the number of rooms, and the coat of arms make it stand out compared to the surrounding hovels.

The building is a so-called "casino", meaning a house-tower structure, which develops over three floors on a square base of about 15 square meters each, consisting of a rural kitchen on the ground floor, furnished with typical period furniture including a fornacella (small furnace) and a cupboard, and an ancient wooden staircase, a bedroom, and an attic. The roof also stands out from the context due to the presence of four equal gables. The house is used by Oscata inVita for demonstrations of life in the past, when household spaces were organized differently, without sanitary facilities, running water, or electricity. It often sparks the curiosity of visitors, who can visually perceive the habits and gestures of life in the Rural Kitchens of Alta Irpinia.

The house is associated with Bice Lapenna's novel, as for a period the protagonist of the book lives in this noble "casino". Here is a passage dedicated to the shepherd: "Before her marriage, Antonia had the chance to meet Puccio, a young shepherd who worked in Giuseppe's property. Puccio was seventeen years old and did not reach one meter fifty in height. He had fair skin, brown eyes, and thick curly hair. He had a small upturned nose, the tip of which turned cherry-red in winter. His face was covered with freckles that gave him a childlike appearance and made him somewhat comical. His hands were violet in color and his nails were always black. He wore checkered knickerbockers, always a bit muddy, a black-and-white flannel shirt, and a gray sweater stained with spots. He wore wool socks made from leftover spun wool gifted by the 'sc'ardalana' (the wool carder)".