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The Righettis had settled in Yandoit after Battista's early success in the
mines.^^ At first they had been content to live in a small hut while stonemasons were
hired to constmct a bam ~ the bmldings for production being more important than
those which made their Uves comfortable. The bam was sited into the side of a sloping
hiU using dry-packed stones, a method of building common in Ticino where stmctures
were often 'built of stone packed one above the other with no mortar or other building
substance'.^^ The bam was built on three levels ~ made easier by the placement into
the Mil ~ the first housing the animals and including the milking sheds, the second
storing the hay and, above this, a loft. Both the inner and outer walls were covered in
a Umestone stucco for added strength and the floors were supported by large wooden
beams. A number of constmction features served the purposes of the bam, including
doors which could be opened and closed when drying hay. The 'cooked' hay, which
had been heated on rods, was forked down elevator shutes to the animals. Some of the
windows were covered by wooden shutters, a typically Italian adaptation. After they
had built the bam, the Righettis constmcted a stone dairy with a steep gable roof ^^
With the help of his wife and children, thirteen of whom were girls, Battista established
a large dairy and steam-operated butter factory. In the days before hand-separators,
much of the work was done by the eldest daughters but, at various times, the family
also employed a number of Italian-speaking men (up to 60 or 70 over the years); often
they were paid in food and lodging (where they all slept is anyone's guess) rather than
money, such arrangements being common to pre-capitalist societies. Examples of
similar cashless economies will emerge with later families.
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