Literary Escapes

Scottish for the Advanced Reader

What’s a school without reading material? That’s why the secluded Tig­harry School­house on North Uist, one of the Outer Hebrides islands, boasts an entire wall of books.

Its black shelves mirror the façade of the former school building, with colourful spines glowing as aus­pi­ciously as the finely com­posed interior of the house. Do you prefer some Scottish Gaelic poetry, classics by Muriel Spark or some­thing pro­vo­cative by Irvine Welsh? Deciding where to enjoy your chosen book, however, might be the real challenge, as every spot here is the perfect one. Whether it’s the cosy nook in the living room, by the warm fire­place, in one of the bright bed­rooms with mini­malist fur­nis­hings or on the nearby beach, the choice is yours. A holiday home in a dra­ma­ti­cally beau­tiful land­scape, offering freedom and openness all the way to the rafters.

Danish Fairy Tale

Like in the stories of Hans Christian Andersen, nature plays a starring role at Agger Farm­house – from its own little lake at its doorstep to endless beaches, dra­matic skies and the nearby Thy National Park, Denmark’s largest wil­derness, which begins right behind the farm­house.

Inside the listed building with its pic­turesque 19th-century thatched roof, up to eight guests can find room and time to relax, cook, laugh and read. The carefully curated Red Library, assembled by the owners, offers an array of artistic, visually stunning and thought-pro­voking books, in both small and large formats, along with inviting arm­chairs perfect for sinking into. Those looking to vary their reading envi­ronment can wander into the bright living room, fur­nished with vintage pieces and Scan­di­navian design, com­plete with a fire­place – or retreat to the beach chair in the garden. It’s a place where Henry David Thoreau’s Walden truly comes alive.

Gene­ra­tional Retreat

“Time tog­ether” is as much a priority at the Fuchsegg Eco Lodge in the Bre­gen­zerwald as are sus­taina­bility and regio­nality.

Embraced by meadows, forests and mountain peaks, this hotel, built in the Vor­arlberg tra­dition of timber con­s­truction, har­mo­niously inte­grates with the sur­rounding land­scape. Whether it’s a getaway for two, a holiday with the whole multi-gene­ra­tional family or a workshop retreat, the straight­forward archi­tecture – inspired by the area’s tra­di­tional alpine “Vorsäß” huts – is unob­trusive, giving all indi­vidual needs enough space. The six-part ensemble fea­tures a variety of room cate­gories, as well as a cosy fire­place room with a gallery and library. Stocked with carefully sel­ected works on culture, nature, eco­nomics and per­so­nality, it pro­vides inspi­ration in a serene envi­ronment of white fir wood, blueberry-coloured accents and lush green views.

Pure Classic

For those who dream of diving into piles of books, the perfect setting and accom­mo­dation awaits in Schop­pernau in the Bre­gen­zerwald. Wene­frida, another example of con­tem­porary Vor­arlberg timber archi­tecture, is a clearly struc­tured, stylish holiday home exuding natural charm and a warm atmo­sphere.

While the ground-floor bed­rooms are as simple and white as a blank page, the upper floor reveals an inviting living, dining and kitchen space clad entirely in wood, com­plete with a reading nook by the fire­place and a spa­cious library. Windows on three sides afford stunning views of the land­scape and flood the space with natural light. In winter and in poor weather, guests can nestle indoors in comfort, while summer and sunshine invite them to enjoy the shel­tered loggia. Whether it’s Bernhard, Bachmann, Jelinek, Handke or your very first novel, Wene­frida has all the makings of a classic.

Epic Archi­tecture

If the spec­ta­cular holiday home Umberto 121 in the medieval village of Montisi were a poem, it could almost be com­pared to Dante’s Divine Comedy.

The complex history of this revived palazzo dates back to the 14th century and has undergone an archi­tec­tural trans­for­mation during each era. To pre­serve its mul­ti­faceted authen­ticity, layers of the past have been carefully unearthed and res­tored – from imposing 19th-century frescoes to ori­ginal beams and doors, through to ter­ra­cotta and gra­niglia floors. Each room has its own unique cha­racter, com­bining antique fur­niture with modern design. This fasci­nating dia­logue is enriched by books in the library and can be con­tinued in the cosy lounge by the fire­place or in the garden.

Urban Book Stack

Just 15 minutes by metro from the city centre, the Jardin Urbain Paris apartment offers the perfect retreat to recover from a packed day in the vibrant metro­polis.

The two-storey loft, with its expansive window fronts, crowns a series of distinc­tively stacked struc­tures, offering visitors a bright and spa­cious living area along with a small rooftop garden over­looking the streets of Paris. The per­sonal flair and char­mingly eclectic interior make it feel instantly like home, with books­helves stret­ching from the living room to the bedroom. How about the astute humour of Yasmina Reza or a glimpse of Parisian café life by Patrick Modiano?

Stately Women’s Power

At the listed Gut Pohnstorf in Meck­lenburg Switz­erland, the his­to­rical brick archi­tecture and the authentic ambience of the elegant, spa­cious rooms take you back in time, while the names of the holiday suites pay tribute to special female prot­ago­nists of the 19th century.

Here you can stay in rooms named Malwida (von Mey­senbug), Mar­garete (Steiff), Marie (Curie), Bertha (Pap­penheim), Hedwig (Dohm), Clara (Schumann) or Louise (Otto Peters); guests meet to chat or discuss politics in the Blue Salon, dance in the large hall or draw inspi­ration from one of the bio­gra­phies, novels or illus­trated books in the glass cabinet – ideally, of course, works by or about one of the afo­re­men­tioned ladies. Whether among antique fur­niture and modern design or shady trees and a boules court – there’s no shortage of enchanting spots to read.

Rustic Ele­gance

Nestled among vast fields, meadows and forests, Mär­ki­sches Landhaus No. 8 in the Stechlin Nature Park is sur­rounded by peace and rela­xation and lives up to its name.

The former cavalier’s house, built with regio­nally typical field­stone, has been fully reno­vated and trans­formed into a charming holiday home that com­bines ori­ginal details with modern comfort and an ele­gantly mini­malist cottage aes­thetic – from the rustic wooden table beneath a con­tem­porary chan­delier to the pan­o­ramic sauna with views of the unspoilt nature. The cen­tre­piece of the house is an old built-in wall unit with a fire­place and a library filled with his­to­rical volumes that tell stories of the land and its history. For those seeking a literary con­nection to the atmo­spheric Mark Bran­denburg land­scape, Theodor Fontane’s last work, Der Stechlin, is a must-read.

Coll­ected Works

Like a veri­table ency­clo­paedia of styles, the listed Fak­to­renhaus in Upper Lusatia brings tog­ether a mix of archi­tec­tural influences under one roof: from Art Deco to Baroque, clas­sicism and modernism to con­tem­porary art.

Built in 1831 by a cloth mer­chant as a half-tim­bered house (“Umge­bin­dehaus”), the special archi­tecture is still cha­rac­te­ristic of the tri-border area between Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland today. Inside the reno­vated landmark, large families and groups can enjoy a relaxed blend of old wooden cei­lings, 1960s design, stucco, tiled stoves, antique fur­nis­hings and his­to­rical wall­paper. The house also offers ample oppor­tu­nities to secretly escape the com­munity spirit, whether in the private library, one of the five bed­rooms, in the sauna, in the idyllic orchard or between the lines.

Waves and Words 

Open to all kinds of adven­tures, Villa M7 extends into the rocky land­scape of Sweden’s west coast.

This elon­gated, blue-green wooden structure with its barrel-shaped roof fea­tures num­erous yellow-framed windows, most of which look out to sea and open directly onto a balcony or the all-around terrace. The vibrant range of colours con­tinues indoors, where wooden fix­tures and fur­niture meet 15 dif­ferent shades. On cool or stormy days, guests can wander through the airy, light-filled spaces to the library and music room, where they can curl up on the sofa with a carefully chosen book. On sunny days, the deck calls. Whether it’s Astrid Lindgren or August Strindberg, maritime poetry by John Mas­e­field or a Swedish crime novel, only a swim in the sea might interrupt the flow of reading here.

Text: Julia Hauch

Photos: © Cara Forbes (Cover picture: Tig­harry School­house), © Pierson Austin (Tig­harry School­house), © Tina Ste­phansen (Agger Farm­house), © Günther Standl Pho­to­graphy (Fuchsegg Eco Lodge), © Philipp Moos­brugger (Wene­frieda), © Meritxell Arja­laguer (Umberto 121), © Sepideh Farsi & Frank Salama (Jardin Urbain Paris), © Andrea Rüster (Gut Pohnstorf), © Mär­ki­sches Landhaus No. 8, © Jörg Sima­nowski (Fak­to­renhaus), © Marvin Berge (Villa M7)