Hideaways, loo­kouts & open space: the Vul­kan­eifel houses

The Eifel region in western Germany, bor­dered by the Moselle and Rhine rivers, as well as the neigh­bouring countries of Belgium and Luxem­bourg, is often unde­re­sti­mated as a tourist desti­nation – which, truth be told, offers certain advan­tages. Despite being easily acces­sible from the metro­po­litan centres of Cologne/Bonn, the Ruhr area, the Rhine-Main area, and the Benelux countries, you’re still somewhat shel­tered from the major tourist crowds.

The Vul­kan­eifel (Vol­canic Eifel) area scores par­ti­cu­larly highly with its wild natural beauty and geo­lo­gical wonders. Here you will find unique land for­ma­tions of land­scapes, deep valleys, rock faces, winding rivers, the ancient remains of coral reefs left over from pri­meval seas, crater lakes, oak and beech forests, and spec­ta­cular, pan­o­ramic lookout points.

And what you will also find – as of 2015 and 2019, respec­tively – are two houses which are second to none in the region when it comes to archi­tec­tural quality.

As you drive into the heart of the Vul­kan­eifel, the roads become more and more narrow, and the land­scape more and more beau­tiful. The tiny village of Schutz, with its 150 inha­bi­tants in total, barely makes it onto digital maps. Set on a hillside on the out­skirts of the village you will see, or rather sense, two houses designed by the Swiss archi­tecture firm Fie­derling Habersang and com­mis­sioned by Hermann Fah­len­brach, a nature and archi­tecture lover.

Hermann had tra­velled to the Eifel to go hiking and cycling for many years, and had learned to love and app­re­ciate the Vul­kan­eifel in par­ti­cular. Here, on a spa­cious meadow with pan­o­ramic views facing south, he found his dream pro­perty. He set out to create a place for himself and others where the archi­tecture would put the sur­rounding scenery centre stage. He also wanted to create a modern, yet cosy ambience that would appeal both in terms of its form and its mate­rials. And to keep the architecture’s eco­lo­gical foot­print as light as pos­sible, he stuck to a timber-frame con­s­truction method and equipped each building with geo­thermal energy and green elec­tricity.

The oft-used term “hideaway” finds its essence here. The local com­munity is small and somewhat lost in time – and the two Vul­kan­eifel houses them­selves fit the description per­fectly too. Here, in this calm and secluded setting, you’re sure to find peace and quiet. However, it wouldn’t be fair to either the desti­nation or the houses to simply reduce them to the category of “for nature lovers and those in search of rela­xation”. The area is also ideal for outdoor sports enthu­siasts. Whether you’re a hiker, a road cyclist or a mountain biker, this is your ideal accom­mo­dation in the middle of what is truly a sporting El Dorado.

When you’ve made it to the top of the last ascent and you see both houses for the first time, you may be slightly con­fused – at least at first. The houses are largely closed off on their north-facing street sides and appear quite unim­pressive from this per­spective. Their spec­ta­cular pan­o­ramic views of the Little Kyll valley and the sur­rounding hilly land­scape only unfold on the opposite side facing the valley. The houses are nestled into a 4000 m² meadow, which Hermann has gra­dually enriched with regional fruit tree varieties.
From an archi­tec­tural point of view, the two buil­dings are united by one major feature: maximum space in com­pa­ra­tively small dimen­sions. The Vul­kan­ei­felhaus for four to six people, com­pleted in 2015, offers 106 m² of living space; the Kleine Vul­kan­ei­felhaus for two, unveiled this year, makes do with just 55 m². Thanks to the clever spatial design of the two houses, guests might not even notice their compact size.

Snail’s house and lookout point: Feel good living in the Vul­kan­ei­felhaus

The Vul­kan­ei­felhaus owes its generous spa­ciousness on a small floor space to an inge­nious design deve­loped by the archi­tects, who planned the house around its central chimney on a total of seven heli­cally arranged half levels.

From the ent­rance area you first reach – in a stag­gered order – the central living room, which is con­nected to the kitchen with a dining area and balcony. If you con­tinue on up, you’ll find a bedroom with a bathroom, and finally a gallery, which in turn opens out to the living area and allows you to look down onto it.

The same game can be played in the opposite direction, heading down from the ent­rance: a second bedroom with a bathroom comes first and then the garden room, which once again opens out to the main view into the valley. From here, you can go outside – to stroll through the meadows and fruits trees or sit by the campfire place.

Fie­derling and Habersang Archi­tects have cle­verly arranged the sequence of rooms such that the bed­rooms and bath­rooms ensure privacy, while the more public levels offer space, con­nection and open lines of sight both inside and outside. Within this spiral design with which the archi­tects have defined the buil­ding’s spatial arran­gement, a great emphasis has been placed on the hier­archy and inter­action of indi­vidual rooms. No wonder the house seems far more generous than it is on paper! The indi­vidual split-levels are con­nected by a calm colour palette. White wall sur­faces have been com­bined with light wood ele­ments; red and blue lin­oleum floors provide a pleasant yet res­trained con­trast. With a keen sense for mate­rials, colours and light, the result is a house with a uni­quely warm cha­racter and ambience. Bright, fri­endly, and at the same time quiet – without being boring.

The views through the central pan­o­ramic window of the living area, and the per­spec­tives from the garden room, create a special atmo­sphere all by them­selves. You’re close to nature here – the interplay of light and shade during the day will do the rest. Whether you look up just by chance – perhaps from a con­ver­sation or a book – or deli­berately look out into the valley, the house and its inter­action with its imme­diate sur­roun­dings will make you feel solidly grounded. In all other respects, the house is – with all its refi­nement – so reserved that you are the centre of attention. Everyone will find their own favourite spot, whether you prefer to retreat, relax and let yourself be inspired by peaceful silence, or whether you thrive on being sociable.

With a little luck you might even catch sight of a deer, a fox or some fire­flies from the garden room or from the sofa by the pan­o­ramic window. Watch the clouds and the changing light across the peaks and valleys. Or gaze up at the Milky Way at night. And if you book in the colder months, the wood-burning stove is sure to make your stay as cosy as can be.

Wild nature in wide-screen format: The Kleine Vul­kan­ei­felhaus

The newly built Kleine Vul­kan­ei­felhaus has a com­pletely dif­ferent look and feel, because here ever­y­thing is arranged on one level and within an almost single-room design concept. On the hill facing side, the gable roof of this poly­gonal building has been pulled down so far that the house almost seems to crouch. The roof rises sharply from here, while wide fronts with floor-to-ceiling ribbon windows and a pro­jecting terrace acces­sible via sliding doors allow the inte­riors to merge seam­lessly with the natural scenery outside.

Fan­tastic views are offered both by the high-cei­linged living and dining area with a kit­chenette and the seam­lessly adjoining Kamin­zimmer (fire­place room), which with its low ceiling height, a wall-fitted sofa, and wood-burning stove by the pan­o­ramic windows makes for a more intimate atmo­sphere.

The adjoining bedroom, which can be closed via a sliding door, com­pletes the open room sequence. From here, you can also enjoy con­stant views of nature: the starry night sky when you fall asleep, the land­scape pan­orama when you wake up.

Mean­while, the con­ti­nuous flo­oring of poly­gonal quartzite slabs rein­forces the fluid sequence of the rooms.

This new house for two is an ideal addition to the Vul­kan­ei­felhaus pro­perty, as its clever ori­en­tation makes it sui­table for both shared and separate boo­kings. In both cases, their clever pla­cement gua­rantees suf­fi­cient privacy. Whether you come here as a couple, as a family or with friends, whether you would like to spend some quiet time tog­ether or get active: either way, you’ll enjoy yourself.

Apropos getting active: infor­mation for hikers and cyclists as well as offers for nature lovers and guests inte­rested in culture can be found at www.eifel.info. The city of Luxem­bourg, for example, is just an hour and a half away; Belgium and the Eifel National Park can be reached within an hour. And it’s even closer to the Moselle or the legendary Eltz Castle. In summer, we highly recommend visiting of the nearby Meer­felder Maar. From May until Sep­tember you can lite­rally dive into the vol­canic heritage of the Eifel – today, this vol­canic crater filled with water is an idyllic, natural outdoor pool.
With this in mind, we hope that you not only immerse yourself in the maars, but also in the archi­tecture and the Eifel region more gene­rally – and return to your everyday life at least as relaxed and inspired as we did!

Text: Ulrich Stefan Knoll, Sep­tember 2019

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