Apartment//Holiday home Fräulein Smilka

At the foot of the Großer Win­terberg, nestled between wooded slopes and the cha­rac­te­ristic rock for­ma­tions of Saxon Switz­erland, lies Schmilka – a border town with colourful half-tim­bered houses and a his­toric mill directly on the Ilmenbach stream. Awarded the title of ‘Sax­ony’s most beau­tiful village’, the small town was ori­gi­nally home to Elbe boatmen, stone­masons and forest workers before becoming a desti­nation for Romantic artists in the 19th century. Their pain­tings, espe­cially those by Caspar David Friedrich, not only shape the per­ception of the spec­ta­cular land­scape to this day, but also the archi­tecture of the Fräulein Smilka holiday home.

The former forest worker’s house is a striking part of the village ensemble on the slopes of the Elbe Valley and blends into the neigh­bourhood with its narrow structure, gabled roof and tra­di­tional mate­rials. At the same time, the building sur­prises with an over­sized round window at the front, inspired by the romantic motif ‘Woman at the Window’. ‘How would we describe this design? As a method of inventive remem­brance,’ say archi­tects Henrike and Tom Schoper from schoper.schoper. The window was deli­berately placed in the centre of the gable wall and forms a point of refe­rence that pro­vides both openness and ori­en­tation and around which the central ele­ments are aligned – above all the new con­crete spiral staircase around which life is orga­nised.

Spread over three floors – divided into two holiday apart­ments – there is not only a clear sense of order, but also a great feel for space, patina, colours and atmo­sphere beneath the 150-year-old exposed wooden ceiling beams. The com­munal areas face the front windows, while the double bed­rooms and bath­rooms are located at the rear. The ground floor flat has a large living room with a kitchen island and dining area, as well as a double bedroom and a terrace leading to the garden. The second holiday flat is spread over the upper floor and a gallery that opens onto the living room below. There is a double bedroom on both levels. The focal point here is the large dining area in front of the sculp­tural window, the kitchen is hidden behind the stove, com­plete with bar and library, and a balcony with a table and colourful chairs invites you to dine and con­tem­plate out­doors – accom­panied by the gentle splashing of the Ilmenbach stream.

Despite all its design refe­rences to Roman­ticism and the archi­tec­tural history of the region, Fräulein Smilka is an example of sus­tainable con­s­truction: behind the tra­di­tional façade lies modern hemp stone insu­lation, which brings the existing quarry stone and brickwork up to today’s energy stan­dards. This is com­ple­mented by a wood-con­crete com­posite ceiling, a brine-water heat pump and a dis­creetly inte­grated pho­to­voltaic system in the roof.

What to do

Hiking in Saxon Switzerland National Park – whether individually or on guided tours, from the Malerweg trail to the Schrammstein viewpoint with its deep gorges and fairytale rock formations to the sandstone heights, special winter and herb walks, cycling on the Elbe Cycle Route, paddling tours through the Elbe Valley, a visit to the historic mill or the Marie Louise Stolln mine, wellness with sauna and hot tubs, seasonal cultural programme, excursions to Bad Schandau and other towns in the region.

Why we like this house


A house like a living painting.

This house is great for

Nature lovers, hiking enthusiasts, those seeking peace and quiet, and architecture fans – whether as a couple, family, or with friends.

Sustainability

Public transport: S-Bahn to Schmilka-Hirschmühle, then take the ferry across the Elbe and walk for 10 minutes.

Details

Availability calendar

The calendar shows the current availability of the accommodation. On days with a white background, the accommodation is still fully available. If an accommodation has more than one rentable unit, days with free capacities are shown with a light grey background. On days with a dark grey background, the accommodation is not available.

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