Two different geographical areas,the central plateau and the Alpine region,divide Switzerland into roughly equal halves.The two zones are fundamentally different from one another with respect to nature and agrarian-spatial terms.The Canton of the Grisons is the easternmost inner alpine region of Switzerland.It exhibits all of the features of the alpine natural and agrarian.In the space of the housing landscape of the Grisons villages and dispersed settlements alternate with one another.For the last 150 years,the alpine region has been affected above all by the tourist industry,which has profited from the nearness to nature and its rich experience value.The public effort to preserve this exeptional agrarian landscape of the Grisons can be illustrated with an example: The Safien valley is a naturally preserved mountain valley in the central Grisons.The special experience value of this area consists of the very special,traditional dispersed settlement landscape in the middle of an intact alpine world.In 2003 the inhabitants of the valley formed a non-profit organization called “Safien Stables” which has set as its goal to obtain financial means for the maintenance of the characteristic building structures.