Archive

Family Ties – The Taxhof and the Aufberg Houses

High above Bruck at the Groß­glock­ner­straße in the Aus­trian Pinzgau lives and works since 1687 family Unter­berger. With their guests they share not only the fan­tastic location with a view of the Hohe Tauern, the Kitz­steinhorn and down into the Salzach valley. But also four archi­tec­tural high­lights up to a tree house, which happily combine tra­dition and modernity in very dif­ferent ways.

by Ulrich Knoll in February 2019

The Unter­berger family have lived and worked in this spot since 1687 – high above Bruck an der Groß­glock­ner­straße in Austria’s Pinzgau region. These days they have opened the farmstead’s doors to share its fan­tastic location with their guests, with views of the Hohe Tauern, the Kitz­steinhorn, and down into the Salzach Valley.

Berta and Mat­thias Unter­berger inhe­rited the estate in 1978. Out of this farm­stead – with its simple alpine eatery – the couple created the foun­da­tions of the holiday desti­nation it has been trans­formed into today. The main house was extended, and in 1983 Berta Unter­berger opened an inn. It didn’t take long before her culinary skills were far more than just an insider’s tip, and she was con­sis­t­ently awarded a Gault Millau Haube from 2005 through to 2011.

In 2010 Berta handed over the farm to her daughters Eli­sabeth and Katharina, who have been running it ever since. She doesn’t regret this gene­ra­tional change, because now she finally has more time for her five grand­children. And since there is always some­thing to do in a family business, she remains closely involved in its day-to-day management.

From the Taxhof up to the Aufberg. And back again.

There’s never a dull moment for Berta and her husband in any case. She set up her own business when she handed the pro­perty to her daughter and opened another house of her own on Aufberg in 2008 – just 20 minutes away by car. In fact, ori­gi­nally Aufberg 1113 was meant to be her reti­rement home. But who has time to retire?
The house was designed by Munich architect Andreas Meck, who had been one of her regular guests since 2002. The result was a peaceful retreat in line with Berta’s wishes. A house that doesn’t steal the lime­light itself but lets the sur­rounding land­scape take centre-stage. The architect’s model sur­prised Berta at first: it initially seemed to her “like a matchbox”. But what seemed unusual at first, she quickly dis­co­vered in fact ful­filled all her wishes. Like a bird­house, the back and side­walls of the house are com­pletely closed and ensure a sense of security. To the south, the cubature opens out com­pletely – with spec­ta­cular views of the Salzach Valley and the Kitz­steinhorn.

The house is plea­santly mini­malist and offers two apart­ments with a sur­prising amount of room across a compact total floor-space. The “Schwal­bennest” on the upper floor houses 2 – 4 guests on 73 square metres. Here, the high­lights are the free­standing bathtub and the free-floating terrace with pan­o­ramic views. The “Spat­zennest” below can com­for­tably accom­modate 2 – 3 guests on 47 square metres and includes its own patio. Both apart­ments offer access to the wellness area with a sauna in the basement. Rela­xation in a secluded, aes­the­ti­cally beau­tiful spot is gua­ranteed in both apart­ments – here at 1,113 metres above sea level.

Her husband Mat­thias still runs the farm at the Taxhof, from making hay to the care of his four-legged friends – and there are many! Donkeys, Pinzgau cattle, mountain sheep, ponies, chi­ckens, rabbits and guinea pigs all live here – a veri­table petting zoo to delight any little guests.

The Unter­bergers are great with kids in general. You can even take a look in the kitchen at the Taxhof – and children can create their own deli­cious des­serts from time to time. Another boon for families: there is no through traffic here; the Berg­straße ends at the farm. Here you can let your youngsters “run free” in the truest sense of the phrase!

New ideas, new spaces

The change of the familial guard in the management of the farm has brought with it certain inno­va­tions. Eli­sabeth, who is pri­marily respon­sible for the kitchen, and her sister Katharina, who takes care of guests’ needs, are paying closer attention to their role as hosts. While the majority of the guests pre­viously came purely for the farm’s culinary offe­rings during their mother’s tenure in the restaurant, the farm’s current gene­ration has put a greater emphasis on living with the addition of further, newly built guest rooms. Still, even today, the culinary arts are by no means neglected; instead, they are reserved for the guests who stay at the Taxhof. Everyone who stays here can expect a three-course menu of regional delights in the evening in addition to breakfast in the morning.

And on family days – i.e. when the two hos­tesses busy them­selves with their own families – a food-basket is available on request. So no one has to starve. The decision in favour of these family days is proof of their sense of pro­portion. The guests don’t need to miss out on any­thing, because even on these days someone is always there for them. And the hosts have managed a won­derful balancing act between their family and their family business.

The Heu­s­todl­suite – A sym­biosis of old and new

Berta and her daughters had already planned the Heu­s­todl­suite (2011) tog­ether with Andreas Meck during the property’s han­dover phase. From two adjoining, his­to­rical hay­lofts, a sophisti­cated holiday house was created with interlo­cking living levels. Behind the exterior façade, pre­served in its size and type, you will find a modern and cosy living space for 2 – 3 guests on 60 square metres. The bedroom at the bottom level offers a won­derful pan­o­ramic view, which can also be enjoyed while relaxing in the bathtub. On the middle level there is an open living area with a dining table and kitchen, and in the upper third there is an open fire­place with an arm­chair and loden-cloth bench. Make yourself com­for­table!

And if you have a par­ti­cular interest in archi­tecture: in the video Neue Alpine Archi­tektur, architect Andreas Meck vividly explains how the Heu­s­todl­suite was designed and built.

Aufberg rel­oaded

In 2009 Berta Unter­berger was able to acquire the neigh­bouring pro­perty on Aufberg, upon which they then built Aufberg 1110, also designed by Andreas Meck. This house, com­pleted in 2012, is now run by the third daughter – Andrea, a fashion designer.

With its wooden façade, Aufberg 1110 stands out opti­cally from its sister house 1113, but follows the same prin­ciples: rela­xation, peace and quiet, and a well thought-out, modern design. The house appears a little softer than its sister – on the outside as well as on the inside. The roof follows the gra­dient of the steep slope, and the larch cladding blends in har­mo­niously to the land­scape. The interlo­cking inte­riors are also domi­nated by larch, which gives the rooms a calm and warm aura. This house fea­tures two apart­ments, which can be rented sepa­rately or tog­ether.

The 78-metre-squared “Freisitz” apartment extends over two floors. Two guests will find a spa­cious living area with a fire­place. On the gallery above, a large double bed and a free­standing bathtub await anyone seeking rela­xation. And thanks to the day beds, four people can also be accom­mo­dated com­for­tably if required, without feeling crowded. And in fine weather, the space is extended out by the terrace and loggia. In the smaller “Ansitz” apartment two people will find a 45-square-metre retreat with its own garden. Both apart­ments are equipped with their own sauna, large windows and a com­for­table sitting niche – venture out or settle in, wha­tever suits your mood.

You can start hikes from the front door of both Aufberg houses. If you want to explore the area by car, you can cross the main Alpine ridge on Austria’s highest pass road, the Groß­glockner-Hoch­al­pen­straße. Winter sports enthu­siasts will find powder-snow para­dises in the ski resorts of Zell am See, Kitz­steinhorn and Saalbach Hin­ter­glemm. Finally, doing abso­lutely nothing is of course also an option here. The tran­quillity at this altitude, the wide mountain pan­orama, and the ever-changing sky may quickly become all you need.

Per­so­na­lised living, a fourth stroke of genius

Their latest stroke of genius occurred in 2016. Shortly before Christmas the sisters opened the Baum­haus­suite [tree house suite] at the Taxhof. Shel­tered by a 400-year-old maple tree, this house on stilts with 55 square metres of living space offers amazing accom­mo­dation for 1 – 3 guests. The suite amongst the trees not only offers pan­o­ramic views of the mountain scenery on three levels, but also a wellness bathroom, a sauna, a gallery with a double bed, a kitchen and a dining and living area with a sitting window. This time the design was com­pleted by the architect Georg Gapp­maier ((http://www.arch-gappmaier.com)). The swap in desi­gners is quite obvious in the case of this house: Georg, whose office is located in Munich, married into the family in the meantime – the family have had their own “house architect” ever since.

Spoilt for choice

Whi­chever house is your favourite, one thing is certain: at the Taxhof you won’t find an arti­fi­cially created “mountain village atmo­sphere”. This has a lot to do with the con­viction of the hosts, who value organic and mana­geable growth. When fully occupied, there is a maximum of 25 guests on the farm.
Alt­hough a new archi­tec­tural gem hasn’t been cate­go­ri­cally ruled out in the medium term, the family have none spe­ci­fi­cally planned either. Their focus is curr­ently on reno­vating and moder­nizing the existing buil­dings. And since the farm is run as a family business and the well being of the guests always has absolute priority, the growth and the work asso­ciated with it are quite natu­rally limited in any case.

That being said, when you see these four doers in their element, you can sense the joy they take at being hosts. Hos­pi­tality, peace and tra­dition may be their official slogan, but these are more than just empty words.

By the way: forget about the formal German “you” form of “Sie” at this altitude. When you’re over 1,000 metres above sea level, it’s an unwritten rule that you may only use the informal “du”, which makes the relaxed atmo­sphere even more pleasant. So, that only leaves the question: when do you plan to visit?

---

By Ulrich Stefan Knoll, February 2019

Overview:  Here you can find all our HomeS­tories at a glance! If you want to stay up to date, you can opt-in for our Home­Story-News­letter here.

The fea­tured houses