(Simply) Opulent.

At the Château de Sibra, located in Lagard in the south of France in the hilly foot­hills of the Pyrenees, you are immersed in a his­to­rical, almost fairytale-like ambience. With five “chambres d’hôtes” [guest rooms], three com­for­table apart­ments and a holiday home, the exten­sively reno­vated castle offers (holiday) accom­mo­dation for couples, families or groups. The mixture of his­to­rical ele­ments and modern fur­nis­hings will not only delight design and art lovers: old murals, floral wall­paper, stucco cei­lings, floor-to-ceiling double doors and ornate man­tel­pieces meet stylish designer chairs, colourful tex­tiles and modern works of art. And the sur­rounding castle park with a view of the Pyrenean peaks is simply magical.

The Volkshaus Basel [Com­munity Centre, Basel] has seen various uses over the cen­turies – with the redesign, Herzog & de Meuron are building on its history and with respect for the his­to­rical building fabric, have reno­vated the hotel with a total of 45 rooms and suites as well as the adjoining bar and bras­serie and the event halls. Whe­rever pos­sible, the ori­ginal, defining sty­listic ele­ments have been recon­s­tructed and com­bined with con­tem­porary inte­riors: the spe­cially designed fur­niture meets grey ter­razzo and delicate wall­paper with etchings from the 17th century – the oval window above the ent­rance has been added as a sty­listic element in several places. The com­bi­nation of gene­rosity and reduction to the essen­tials creates an unagi­tated, casual ambience.

The Gasthof zum Riesen, [The Giant’s Inn] formerly a pil­grims’ inn, has stood in the village centre of Tarsch in the South Tyrolean region of Vint­schgau since the 14th century. Reno­vated with great attention to detail, the stone house offers a har­mo­nious com­bi­nation of his­to­rical building fabric and modern ele­ments: the larch wood louvres placed in front of the eastern façade refe­rence the barn that used to be here and at the same time give the building a modern exterior. Inside, you will find num­erous wall and ceiling pain­tings, ornate wall­paper, old tiled stoves and cup­boards as well as old flo­or­boards – wooden fur­niture designed by the architect com­ple­ments the old fur­nis­hings in the nine guest rooms.

The heritage listed Fak­to­renhaus [Factor’s House, com­bining living and business quarters] in Upper Lusatia, a his­to­rical Umge­bin­dehaus [half-tim­bered house] typical of the area around Görlitz, was built in 1831 by a cloth mer­chant – and today offers 260 square metres of special ambience for some time out, whether for large families or groups. The archi­tecture of the old house com­bines sty­listic ele­ments from dif­ferent eras, from baroque to clas­sical to art deco: vaulted cei­lings, exposed wooden beams and box windows meet delicate wall­paper and his­to­rical murals. The interior also com­bines antique fur­nis­hings and fur­niture from the 1960s with modern design pieces and con­tem­porary art – an exciting eclectic mix.

The Villa Auguste in the Uckermark is enchanting from the moment you see it from the outside: situated in a park-like garden enc­losed by a brick wall, the Wil­hel­minian-style villa was built around 1905 by a Berlin indus­trialist. Despite various phases of use, the building has retained its charm: stucco cei­lings, cof­fered doors and windows and a Meissner tiled stove are remi­niscent of its history, while indi­vidual new ele­ments such as the unpo­lished brass fit­tings in the bath­rooms or wall­paper and floor tiles with natural motifs are in keeping with the style of the period in which it was built. The modern inter­pre­tation of the country house style, sel­ected vintage fur­niture and a subtly coor­di­nated colour scheme set accents and underline the flair of the villa

The well-estab­lished garden of the listed Am Roseneck [At Rose Corner] farm­house offers a direct view of Lake Chiemsee – the beau­tiful bathing beach and the Prien jetty are just a few minutes’ walk away. The his­to­rical part of the two-hundred-year-old farm­house is rented out as a holiday home for up to four people and offers a suc­cessful blend of his­to­rical building fabric and modern interior: lime green painted wooden doors pick up on the green of the shutters and create a bright atmo­sphere, simple fur­niture pro­vides a beau­tiful con­trast to the his­to­rical wall pain­tings, vaulted cei­lings and box windows as well as the old flo­or­boards.

His­to­rical charm and an authentic sou­thern Italian life­style – these are what the apartment on the first floor of the Palazzo Nobile with the evo­cative name Principe Amedeo [Prince Amadeo] convey. The building was attached to the small 17th century church of San Gio­vanni Baysta – in addition to the wall pain­tings, the old tiles and the antique banister in the staircase, the 6.5 metre high “volta a stella” [vaulted ceiling] in par­ti­cular ensures a his­to­rical flair: a ceiling that curves upwards in a star shape in the bedroom, dining room and living room. The large roof terrace with outdoor kitchen offers a won­derful view of the his­to­rical centre of the Apulian town of Galàtone.

Denkmal Karl­stadt [Karl­stadt Memorial]– the heritage listed half-tim­bered house is located near the old town wall in Karl­stadt am Main in Lower Fran­conia. Built in 1576, fol­lowing extensive reno­vation work it now con­tains a café and two holiday apart­ments. Many pre­served his­to­rical details such as the roof beams, old wooden doors and windows with antique glass inserts and parts of old wall pain­tings combine har­mo­niously with modern fix­tures and fit­tings such as the new kitchen units. The new staircase is a par­ti­cular eye-catcher: the three-dimen­sional work of art designed by artists Thomas Lange and Mutsuo Hirano in bold colours inte­grates his­to­rical com­ponents such as an old sliding window, creating a suc­cessful link between the past and the present.

At Zum Egle 1336 in the his­to­rical old town of Con­s­tance, the Middle Ages and modernity combine in an almost fairytale-like way: exposed half-tim­bering, unplas­tered brickwork and medieval wall pain­tings meet delicate colours, straight­forward wooden fur­niture, colourful carpets and simple design pieces. During the reno­vation of the bed and breakfast, which is located on the second floor of a heritage listed building, traces of the past were unco­vered and inte­grated into the design of the rooms as visible ele­ments: in the guest rooms, the raw walls with rem­nants of floral wall­paper and old pain­tings of saints form a har­mo­nious con­trast to the select, modern interior and the mini­malist bathroom in the new inner core of the house.