New home Uckermark

It was cold. It was dark. It was an unsui­table time for a first impression. But even in these unfa­vourable con­di­tions, the views of the land­scape are enchanting. A lake here, a forest there, and an old barn made of field­stones and bricks behind you. It’s the perfect place to take a breather after work. And there will be plenty of work in the so-called Das Pirol [The Golden Oriole]. Work­shops, photo shoots and events will take place in the building. The building is con­stantly being planned, tested and built. Johanna Michel and Dirk Preuß are in no hurry. It’s pre­cisely the unfi­nished that appeals to them.

With das Schwarze Haus, you and architect Thomas Kröger have created a modern classic of holiday archi­tecture. Not far from there is Die Kleine Acht, which we will discuss later. But you your­selves are now living in a Spartan wooden box in an unfi­nished barn. Should I be con­cerned?

On the con­trary. I think we will look back at this phase very fondly. There is some­thing libe­rating about living in a space that initially doesn’t require much care and con­side­ration. Die Kleine Acht and Das Schwarze Haus have both been fully designed throughout. It’s true, we also spend a few days there occa­sio­nally when the house is not being rented and we have work to do there, but the archi­tecture and interior design are somewhat awe-inspiring.

What do you want Das Pirol to become when it’s finished? A holiday home, a creative space or your private refuge?

On the one hand, Das Pirol is already finished. So you could book the barns for events, work­shops or photo shoots. It’s a great place to work, espe­cially for larger groups – par­ti­cu­larly in summer. Even when it’s really hot outside, it’s plea­santly cool in the former stables. I work here as often as pos­sible, even in summer.

On the other hand, Das Pirol may never be finished. There are still so many options here and in the garden. For example, between our ‘living box’ and the rear area with the kitchen, bar and function room, there is a part of the building that we want to turn into a ‘walled garden’. That means we’ll take out the ceiling and create a garden. From the two outer rooms, you can then look out over the greenery through a glass wall. From the outside, however, only the stone walls can be seen. We also want to accom­modate two apart­ments in the attic. The kitchen, on the other hand, can actually stay as it is.

‘Kitchen’ seems like an under­statement. We are standing in a huge white room. The kit­chenette is barely visible from the other end of the room.

This used to be a stable. Calves were kept here. Ever­y­thing was black and the smell was over­whelming. We pressure-cleaned the room, removed the steel mesh boxes and painted ever­y­thing with lime paint. The effect was imme­diate and impressive. The musty smell had vanished at once and the white colour gave the room a fri­endly look. We added the kit­chenette and the wooden box over here. We hung a disco ball there and now we have a small dance floor. Otherwise, we haven’t changed much here. The raw look was and is the vision.

Die Kleine Acht is also raw – but in a com­pletely dif­ferent way.

You are pro­bably referring to the con­crete floor on the ground level. That was quite expe­ri­mental. I chose the stones in the con­crete and sub­se­quently dis­tri­buted them indi­vi­dually all over the floor, where some were still missing. We weren’t even sure if the con­crete would hold, but it was worth the effort. The rough con­crete with the large, smooth stones runs up the wall over the fire­place. It sort of looks like you are standing in a pool.

From the outside, the house looks very simple but from the inside it has been carefully thought out down to the smallest detail. What exactly is still ori­ginal and what have you changed?

Except for the outer walls, nothing is as it was. You wouldn’t believe what it ori­gi­nally looked like. The pro­perty was a wild jumble of stables, shelters and an outside toilet. It looked a bit like a favela [Bra­zilian slum]. The house was also quite clut­tered inside. It was all divided up into lots of small rooms. The atmo­sphere was rather oppressive. At the same time, it was clear that the view of the land­scape was fan­tastic. That should the­r­efore be the focus.

But the view of the land­scape always takes in your garden. Even in winter, it looks good. The cake-slice shape of the pro­perty is empha­sised by the layout of the plants. The garden juts out like a ship’s bow into the unadorned field and the wide expanse of the coun­tryside.

It was important to us that the garden has some­thing to offer in every season. Working with garden designer Rainer Els­termann has proven a success. Rainer will also plan the garden for Das Pirol.

(Edi­tor’s note: We spoke to Rainer Els­termann about vacation home gardens at an earlier date. You can find the article here).

It seems as though you want to draw attention away from the house and towards the land­scape, both from the outside and the inside.

Yes, that was very important to Thomas even with Das Schwarze Haus. He has the greatest respect for nature and under­stands that his respon­si­bility as an architect is to emphasise the qua­lities of the land­scape. Under no cir­cum­s­tances should his buil­dings draw attention to them­selves.

The view of the unspoilt hilly land­scape was and is the main moti­vation for all three pro­jects for us. It was always the land­scape that inspired us first. Even when there was a jumble of buil­dings around Die Kleine Acht, you could still imagine what a special view it would be.

How exactly did Thomas capture the view into the distance with Die Kleine Acht?

First of all, I have to emphasise that you can’t capture the effect of the land­scape in photos. To expe­rience it, you have to be in the building. A solution for the ground floor was quickly found. Thomas replaced the large number of small windows with large windows and patio doors.

The dormers with the huge panes were a bit tricky, though. Sliding windows were ori­gi­nally planned, but that would have reduced the effect. We then recon­sidered it tog­ether and came up with the current solution, with a con­ti­nuous window at the front and two small window slits on the sides for ven­ti­lation. It works very well, but it’s just a bit cum­bersome to clean. And the assembly was a real adventure. It took six people and a crane.

Is the roof still the ori­ginal one, apart from the large dormers?

No, we com­pletely rebuilt the roof. This allowed us to achieve the generous ceiling height.

Was it worth the effort to pre­serve only the exterior walls?

Defi­nitely. Of course, it would have been cheaper to demolish and rebuild, but then we would have had a dif­ferent atmo­sphere here. Working with the existing structure leads you to adopt approaches that you pro­bably wouldn’t with the con­s­truction of a new building. In any case, the solution with the large dormers has proven suc­cessful. We have been told about replicas being built because people like it so much. We also have loyal guests who keep coming back because Die Kleine Acht is unique.

The mix of old and new is also evident in the interior.

As a pro­fessor of fashion design, I natu­rally deal with tex­tiles a lot. The cushions, for example, are all unique. I also spent a long time looking for the right rug. The pic­tures on the walls, on the other hand, are by my father. He was an artist. Almost all the fur­niture here is old and have only recently been res­tored. The only exception is the large sofa in front of the fire­place. It was designed in a similar way to Das Schwarze Haus. Here we have the upgraded version.

I find that very exciting because it shows the rela­ti­onships between your three houses here in the Uckermark on a small scale. Despite the very dif­ferent approaches, all of your houses have a similar spirit. What’s next for you and the Uckermark? Have you already planned the next project?

For the time being, we are busy with Das Pirol. The reno­vation and con­version here, in addition to our regular work and renting out Die Kleine Acht and Das schwarze Haus, are already chal­lenging. But who knows? If we fall in love with a par­ti­cular view again, we might plunge into a new adventure.

Interview: Fre­derik Fischer

Photos: Das Schwarze Haus © Borke Berlin Pho­to­graphy (cover photo), Das Pirol © Ina Steiner (1 — 7), Die kleine Acht © Ina Steiner (8 — 13), Die kleine Acht © Rainer Els­termann (14), Die kleine Acht © Dirk Preuß (15), Johanna Michel & Dirk Preuß © Ina Steiner (16), Fre­derik Fischer © Manuela Clemens (17)

The hosts:

Pro­fessor and fashion designer Johanna Michel and her husband, pro­perty deve­loper Dirk Preuß, have been com­muting between Berlin and the Uckermark for many years. In 2012 tog­ether with architect Thomas Kröger, they built ‘Das Schwarze Haus’ which has won mul­tiple awards. What was ori­gi­nally planned as a private holiday home has become very popular with guests. In 2019, ‘Die Kleine Acht’ was added, a con­verted GDR Sied­lungshaus [stan­dar­dized building style in former East Germany] with a perennial and grass garden designed by garden designer Rainer Els­termann. Their new project, Das Pirol, is also located in the Uckermark.