Summer retreat @MADAME

Urbanists tired of the city will find peace and relaxation in rural surroundings in the Old School Brandenburg in the northwest of Berlin.

A green, wide landscape, above it a blue sky streaked with clouds driven by the wind – this is the setting for Haus Friesensteern on the peninsula Eiderstedt in the north of Germany.

The Cottage is situated on a park-like property on the outskirts of Sieseby, widely considered the most beautiful village on the River Schlei in northern Germany.

A 200-year-old hay barn in southern Styria has been given a new lease on life as a holiday house. The conversion process involved the barn being completely disassembled, its wooden beams being carefully restored and then carefully reassembled once again.

Nestled in the hills of the Lechrain, the listed farmhouse Pankraz Burggen embodies a respectful approach to traditional architecture. Its core values: simplicity and naturalness.

On the banks of a small pond, a short distance from the historic farm complex, stands the ‘Backhäusle’ in the heart of the Black Forest. For decades, it served as a functional outbuilding for baking bread. Today, it is a listed building, along with the other buildings of the Sägehof.

Across Europe, many successes achieved in the field of monument preservation can be attributed to private organisations and foundations. Our author Anneke Bokern examines the strategies they pursue, which approaches are most promising, and where the limitations of these models lie.

Majestic olive trees, curved stone walls, imposing vaults and wild herbs: Corni di Fiasco is an Apulian Arcadia in close harmony with nature, the light and the materials of the region.