Single-family home Gerzensee

A new single-family house has been built on the southern slope of the Belp mountain high above the Gerzensee.

The building, which is panelled with Douglas spruce, nestles along the slope as far as the road.

As one approaches, a simple, single-storey facade becomes recognisable. The garage door opens, we move into the upper part of the building.

From the entrance, our gaze is directed expectantly over the long-drawn stairs towards the garden. The giant roof light guides the light over two storeys into the living floor whilst simultaneously providing an initial view of the Bernese Alps.

The stairs in their accented colour take us to the sleeping floor where the five bedrooms await us. The terrace, with its large, wooden grate, can be reached from each room. Breathtaking: the view is magnificent even if the weather is cloudy; what must it be like when the sun is shining?

Both bathrooms are panelled with dark, irregular, ceramic strips and give the bath a mystic atmosphere.

Impressed, we move down to the living floor. We find ourselves in a large living hall in fair-faced concrete, separated from the kitchen only by an item of staircase furniture. The giant glass front now reveals the entire panorama of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau as well as from the Niesen to the Stockhorn.

We have to stay there for several minutes before entering the garden. The large veranda is situated in front as external living area from where more stairs take us to the detached pergola. We gladly allow ourselves to be treated by our Valais host to a glass of cool white wine beneath the shadow-casting vines and the apricots.