Existing building rather than new construction · on-site water bottling · dispensers instead of small bottles · solar electricity for the pool
What We Do, and What We Do Not
What We Do, and What We Do Not
About us
We do not have a sustainability department or a label on the wall. We have a house that has stood for four hundred years, and the conviction that the best thing for the environment has already been done when a house like this is extended rather than demolished.
The house was already standing
No cubic metre of concrete is as economical as the one you do not pour. The old mill’s walls continue to carry the building, and the corner beam at the entrance was already there when everything began. What is new lies behind it: insulation, pipes and technology, all the work you cannot see afterwards.
What works in the basement
On the roof is a system that generates electricity and heat at the same time; in the basement, storage systems carry both through the night. Add an envelope that keeps the heat in and cisterns that water the park. This is the most elaborate part of the conversion, and the only part you will never see.
Water without a journey
Our mineral water does not come from Italy but from our own bottling system in the house: still or sparkling, in bottles that go back into the dishwasher instead of the recycling container. You only grasp the saving when you calculate how many crates a house with twenty-two suites would otherwise send through the valley.
No little bottles
The bathrooms have dispensers that we refill from large containers. No travel-size plastic ending up in the bin after two showers, and, frankly, they look better beside the basin too.
What comes from the valley
Bread from the village bakery, honey from Sasbachwalden, cheese and cold cuts from the region. Not because it reads well, but because short journeys taste better, and because the businesses that supply them are our neighbours.
Arrive without a car
We collect you from Achern station free of charge, and the KONUS guest card lets you travel by bus and train throughout the Black Forest without paying. If you do arrive by car, you can charge it here.
And what we cannot do
Coffee does not grow in the Black Forest, nor do lemons. A house with a pool and five saunas uses energy; no elegant phrase can change that. We would rather tell you where we stand than hang a label on the wall.
Good to know
Please ask us about it; we are happy to give you concrete answers.
