Experience the new travel feeling 

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The renovation of the listed Bauernchalet | elbacher guels:

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Around 1650 our farmer's chalet elbacher guetel was built. It is over 450 years old and has experienced and survived a lot during this time. That is why it is rightly a listed building and is therefore a symbol of history. Today, centuries later, our farmer's chalet appears in a whole new light. Whereby the special, the originality, was preserved and transformed into the now. From the former stable to a star restaurant to our design holiday home - the farmer's chalet elbacher guetel.

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Tradition meets modernity, old becomes new. In order for the transformation from a former farmhouse to a chalet to be successful, it was extensively renovated and restored over many years. The focus was on sustainable renovation. This attitude became central to architecture, construction and interior design.

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At the beginning of the conversion work, you were greeted by numerous dilapidated beams, collapsed components and saltpetre and ammonia in the former stable. At that time, you needed a certain imagination to create something from this place that corresponds to today's living standards. We are convinced that almost everyone would have preferred to demolish this building rather than rebuild it piece by piece and with a lot of love and patience - including us.

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The Monuments Office also kept a close eye on this historic property and was therefore a constant companion during the renovation phase. According to the Monuments Office, the historic and artistically crafted log house components had to be preserved. The base building in which the barn was located was permeated with ammonia and it was only after long discussions that the historical walls could be removed in 2 meter sections and a new building was allowed to be built. The windows had to be put back exactly where and how they were before. 

Surprisingly, the former threshing floor, the hayloft, was very well preserved. Each individual board was numbered for refurbishment and dismantled and stored piece by piece. The wooden elements were cleaned, restored and in the end everything was reassembled and installed exactly as before. In order for the original facade of the farmhouse to be preserved, the original view on the village side had to be preserved. On the courtyard side, however, there was large and modern glazing. This gives the entire farmer's chalet its unmistakable character of a new building and a monument in one.

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The block house walls were not allowed to be changed and were largely responsible for the fact that the building was given a new wing below the former threshing floor driveway. Contrary to expectations, it was allowed to have an amazingly modern design. the The south and west sides have been rebuilt in timber frame construction. Only local resources from the neighboring forests were used. The roof was also completely renewed. A sustainable wood fiber insulation was created between the roughly 8cm high rafters and was supplemented with a second crosswise layer. The space in between was also insulated with wood fibers. During the entire construction period, the roof was suspended on a crane for months. But that was not all. Since the woodworm was omnipresent, the entire farmer's chalet was wrapped in white fabric - like the Reichstag once was by the artist Christo. and chases away the woodworm with natural substances.

 

The original facade on the village side consisted only of simple boards with harbor-like ends. However, so that a living space could be created behind it, an insulated timber frame structure was added. In order to renovate the farmer's chalet as resource-friendly as possible, the plastered blockwork was dismantled and extensively restored. All original ceilings and floors were insulated with glass foam granules. Due to the timber frame construction of the newly built sub-areas, the farmer's chalet elbacher guetel corresponds to the latest technical and energy standards.  

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In order to preserve the log construction, the most historic part was covered with plasterboard. Behind it run modern wall heaters. Two pellet stoves, with CO2-neutral fuel, are future-oriented and energetically so valuable that no high heating expenditure is necessary to keep the rooms warm. In addition, the stoves contribute to the typical chalet character. The entire farmer's chalet is heated with CO2 neutral pellets.

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Through the refurbishment, a farmhouse that was threatened with decay and was in part more than 470 years old was transformed piece by piece into a historic, modern gem. This is how today's farmer's chalet | elbacher guetel a future perspective in which the old values are valued and connected to the future.  

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Even if the path can be rocky, it is still worth walking on!

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