The Good Fairies of the Kanisfluh: Temple 74 Apart­ments

Like many vil­lages in the central Bre­gen­zerwald (Bregenz Forest), the muni­ci­pality of Mellau in western Austria nestles in the valley of the crystal-clear, opa­le­scent Bre­genzer Ache. The mountain river, which has its source at an altitude of 2,400 metres, runs through the region — some­times lei­surely, some­times as white water — to finally flow into Lake Con­s­tance near Bregenz.

More than the river, however, the village of 1300 inha­bi­tants is domi­nated by the Kanisfluh, the landmark of the Bre­gen­zerwald. This striking mountain massif rises steeply to over 2000 metres to the east of the village.

The imposing mountain range is vir­tually always in view in this part of the valley — at sunrise as a black, backlit wall of shadow at first, then maje­s­ti­cally wat­ching over the com­munity in the course of the day as the sun and clouds alternate; finally, in the light of sunset, shim­mering from pink through all shades of red and gra­dually fading into the dark blue of the night.

Those who stay in the Tempel 74 Apart­ments, the new project of hostess Evi Haller and her husband, master builder Jürgen Haller, which they have rea­lized with neighbor family Felder, can hardly fail to expe­rience the mul­ti­faceted richness of the natural spec­tacle again and again.

Be active or relax and enjoy — each to his own

The location at the interface between the rather gentler, nor­thern hill and mountain ranges and the alpine zone on the sou­thern flank of the valley is an ideal starting point for nature lovers and sports enthu­siasts alike.
Regardless of your phy­sical con­dition and depending on the mood of the day, num­erous walking trails, hiking tours or cycling routes are waiting to be explored — from lei­surely to chal­lenging at the high alpine level.
In the winter season, the well-deve­loped network of pistes for downhill skiers and the cross-country ski trails come into focus.

Those who want to actively explore nature can safely do without their own vehicle. With it safely parked in the hotel’s under­ground garage, you can forget about it and instead grab your sports equipment from the ski and bike room and head out —  into gentle or rugged land­scapes that will fascinate you until sunset (and long after you holiday is over).

Good Fairies — perfect hosts

Those who prefer to take it easy start the day with breakfast from hostess Evi Haller.

This lavish, high-quality breakfast fulfils your every wish, but it makes an early start rather unlikely. However, when you do set off —  there is no rush — you are well for­tified for the day. And in the hours that follow you can work off those deli­ciously acquired calories.

Only extreme early risers can hear the good fairies who tiptoe quietly through the stairwell and arrange these morning deli­cacies in front of the apartment doors. Evi Haller pre­pares the cake stands and bread baskets well before school starts and is often accom­panied on her morning rounds by daughter Leni or son Luca, who also obviously enjoy the delivery service.

While on the subject, the hostess: whenever you need Evi Haller, she is always there to lend a sym­pa­thetic ear and to offer won­derful tips.

If you return from an excursion in the afternoon, a homemade cake and Evi’s powers of per­suasion are waiting for you. In view of the culinary delights, you don’t really need to be per­suaded — unless of course you think you have to stick to a strict diet. She is also happy to serve coffee or tea on request — either outside in the sun or inside in the parlour, depending on the weather.

In passing, you can hear other guests enthusing about their day’s expe­ri­ences or find yourself in con­ver­sation with your hosts. And all of a sudden you feel you are in good hands.

With their open, authentic and warm manner and their indi­vidual all-round service, Evi and Jürgen won­derfully convey their under­standing of hos­pi­tality: per­sonal, direct and sincere. It soon feels more like a fri­endly rela­ti­onship than a service of any kind.

On the other hand, those who prefer to be quieter and more secluded are dis­creetly looked after in the back­ground — each to their own!

As we know, happy guests make happy hosts. There is no need for theory here; the tone is down-to-earth and sen­sitive, always on an equal footing.

Since Evi comes from the region and her husband Jürgen, the master builder, was born in the village, they both know the region like the back of their hands — no question about archi­tecture, nature, wort­hwhile excursion desti­na­tions, sports tours or gas­tro­nomic recom­men­da­tions goes unans­wered. As a guest, you spend such a ful­filled, carefree time here that – of course, unfort­u­nately — it flies by far too quickly.

New building in old tra­dition: We instead of Me-Me-Me

The feeling of well-being is also a result of the master builder’s phi­lo­sophy. Jürgen Haller’s  archi­tec­tural designs are the­r­efore cha­rac­te­rised by the fact that they are fun­da­men­tally solid — in the sense that high quality is ori­ented towards the tra­di­tional in a modern form and coher­ently develops it further.

This is also the case in Temple 74, where the two buil­dings adapt to the existing, spatial envi­ronment of the village in terms of volume and scale. And at the same time further define it.

The entire project can con­fi­dently be described as well-tem­pered — it manages the balancing act of being both a soloist and a team player. Thus it is, albeit under his very own auspices, part of a long tra­dition of building pro­jects for which Jürgen Hal­ler’s archi­tecture firm has already received many awards.

To fit into an estab­lished ensemble and yet stand out at the same time is a fine art that requires a great deal of intuition and expe­rience. This is visibly evident in the reaction of the holi­day­makers strolling past. They clearly notice the house. It stands out without being per­ceived as obtrusive or even irri­tating, but as an inspi­ration of what tra­di­tional building can look like today. 

Speaking of tra­dition: a small, see­mingly unim­portant detail explains quite vividly the phi­lo­sophy adhered to in the inter­action with the village: a his­to­ri­cally focal point of the hamlet is the central running well, which used to be of great signi­fi­cance as a drinking trough for cattle. Some years ago, it was rebuilt in a moder­nised form — also as a symbol of the vibrant com­munity around it. The meadow on which it stands is not only com­munal pro­perty but is also main­tained jointly. Village cohesion is alive and well. 

The buil­der’s self-assessment as a tra­di­tio­nalist can also be found in many other details. Tra­di­tional building forms and ele­ments were further deve­loped in the con­s­truction process and imple­mented to a high-quality standard, but always remaining firmly grounded. His motto “The best solution is always dif­ferent” is also emble­matic — each archi­tec­tural project is ana­lysed with precise accuracy on a case-by-case basis. In the case of Tempel 74, the process ranges from the his­to­rical and social spatial structure to the fur­nishing details of the indi­vidual apart­ments. These now convey an alpine living culture that is modern and at the same time has the charm of yes­teryear.

Elegant, high-quality, plea­santly unpre­ten­tious: the feeling of good living

The ensemble con­sists of two houses, con­nected by an ele­gantly curved con­crete span, con­sisting of the ent­rance and lounge area.

The parlour, which has always been a central part of Alpine living culture, has been reinter­preted in a modern and cosy way: corner bench, cre­dence and seating fur­niture in the French antique tra­dition of the canapé, as well as the stove as a central fire­place stand for typical Bre­gen­zerwald gemüt­lichkeit. These are joined by a cooking island and the archi­tecture firm’s library of building culture with a focus on archi­tecture, building, living, crafts and design, as well as inte­resting facts about the Bre­gen­zerwald and its special fea­tures.

If necessary, the mul­ti­func­tional room can also be trans­formed into a media area for seminars in no time at all, without losing its charm.

You can either live in House A, the faithful recon­s­truction of a farm­house ori­gi­nally located on the same site. The typical box and rhomboid windows and the tra­di­tional round shingles are cha­rac­te­ristic of the rural artisan style. House B, on the other hand, is a new building that con­tinues the local building tra­dition in a freer inter­pre­tation. It’s trans­parent wooden curtain, which plays with open and closed façade sur­faces, pro­vides a notable con­trast.

Both outside and inside, local types of wood such as spruce and oak dominate, and the floor covering is sanded screed from the sand of the adjacent Bre­genzer Ache river.

Both houses have five apart­ments each and their own sauna with rela­xation area. With one exception, the units are between 50 — 60 square metres in size and are sui­table for two adults and a maximum of two children. If you need some­thing more spa­cious, ask for apartment B5: it covers the entire top floor of the new house and offers 100 square metres of comfort for up to four adults and two children.

Guests — both new and regulars from the Mes­merhaus have enthu­si­a­sti­cally embraced the house, which opened in December 2019. So it’s no sur­prise that the “Temple” promptly landed in our “Best of 2020” in the category Best Guest Feedback. Many readers emphasise the suc­cessful com­bi­nation of regio­nality, modernity, cor­diality and a pinch of luxury; some even enthu­si­a­sti­cally describe it as a “temple for the eye and the soul”.

For those who can’t get enough of archi­tecture, Jürgen Hal­ler’s guided tours of the extra­or­dinary building culture of the Vor­alberg are highly recom­mended. Exclu­sively for house guests, not to be missed!

By Ulrich Stefan Knoll, May 2021

Overview: Here you will find all HomeS­tories at a glance! If you want to stay up to date on a monthly basis, you can sub­scribe to our Home­Story news­letter here.

Fea­tured houses

Apartment Tempel 74

Apartment Tempel 74

Add to my favourites

Temple 74 in Mellau in the Bregenz Forest is a project by Evi and Jürgen Haller. The Tempel 74 apartment buil­dings too skilfully combine tra­dition and modernity, as well as superb archi­tecture and craft­smanship.

⟶

Apartment Mes­merhaus

Apartment Mes­merhaus

Add to my favourites

The Mes­merhaus is part of the his­toric ensemble of houses grouped around the Baroque era pil­grimage church in the village of Bild­stein at the foot of the Bre­grenz Forest with a cine­ma­scope view over Lake Con­s­tance.

⟶