"In the very heart of Switzerland, just over the Klausen Pass from the spot where Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden proclaimed their Everlasting League in 1291, stands the tiny hamlet of Urner Boden. With a mere clutch of buildings, at an altitude of 4,555 feet, this might be said to be a microcosm of upland Switzerland: its inhabitants put up with adversity of soil while clustering together under the awesome protection of the northern mountain backdrop.

"The visitor will encounter heavy timber construction in the forested mountains, half-timbering in the region north of Zurich (where advanced construction technique is well known but local wood is only moderately plentiful), and masonry in the Ticino, Italian Switzerland, where stone is almost the only building material."

— from G.E. Kidder Smith. Looking at Architecture. p106.