You are cold? Just open the window ...

Where we live: For now ...

In 2006 Alexander and I had to move from Berlin into the Stuttgart region if we wanted to keep our jobs. We wanted!
In Berlin each of us had our own flat and we both were in deep love of our versions. Alexander had a rooftop apartment with his own garden on top of the roof. And I was living in the 13th floor in one of the few high-rise buildings in Berlin. My flat was very tiny but I had 3 balconies. One was overlooking the 'Tiergarten' and the other two had a view to the S-Bahn.
So moving into the Stuttgart region means for me definitely not to move into the city of Stuttgart because I once lived there for 3 years and I was sure, that I will never ever be happy again in my life, with the steady comparison of the two cities just in front of me. So we looked for houses in the countryside.
Long story short: Alexander found one. A big one, an old one and one which reminds us slightly to the typical Berlin flats in older buildings. The ceiling was not so high, but ...
The house is from 1865 and it's a total understatement from the outside. Means it looked very unimpressive from the outside, but has a beautiful character in the inside, after removing tons of building materials from decades. Also we converted the whole roof into a two-story loft. So lots of space and lots of work until today. I think it never ends.
I can remember that Alexander and I talked about to beauty the facade from the very beginning. But we came to conclusion that we have to wait. We said that we eventually fall in love with this house so much that we will give the house a new face.
2013 came the flooding and while on the one side this was like a big sign: RUN, something happened. Call it obstinacy or now more than ever. I also can remember a conversation with a landscape gardener with whom we talked about several ideas about being save during the next flood. He is a man of fewer words, but in between he said: "People gave up for much less reasons".
I'm an outdoor girl and can build up fences for my ponies or plan a stable, but I have no ideas to design a house. But Alexander has ...
Flood preparations:
1. We erected a wall in front of the house.
2. We now have italian flood barriers beside every door including the garage which can be installed in minutes.
3. Several small features where the water was coming into the house were changed.
4. Alexander twisted the house. We have a big street in 'front' of the house, and a small street behind the house/garden. You know since 1865 this house heard to the same name. Alexander changed it. So in front is the wall, and behind are the entrances and a new street adress. This idea so simple, so genious.

The house is in a valley, and there is a river. Therefore we have really nice and clean air, but wet. Also the ground-water level is very high, means our house 'has its feet in the water'. In the basement is a hole where sometimes the groundwater has to be pumped away. What's the meaning of the long description? The character or the atmosphere in the house is nice. After removing the tons of building material I had the feeling that the house started breathing. And is has a slow breath: in and out, in and out. And his breath at least in the ground level is moist. So in the first level, where I live, most of the year it's cold. Big old walls etc.
I don't want to isolate the house from the outside with the usual and modern materials, because I have the intense feeling that the breathing of our house would stop. So Alexander had two ideas:

You can see: Panels against the flood, and the isolation of the gable.

Isolation of the gable and old ugly color.

First we or more precisely Alexander painted the house. To the garden side a warm yellow made out of Goldocker and sides and front shiny white. With the window shutters in nail lacquer red.
After this we got a lot of applause from the people.
And last week we finished the last and most interesting part.
One point was the isolation and another point was the noise from the street. Especially trucks and motorcycles. On weekends it's really not funny. They all drive with their motorcycles into the countryside ... Yack! The idea was like a greenhouse, but with modern materials. So we choose Polycarbonate.

Behind the scaffold you can see the white frame.

Details ... There is no even part in and around an old house.

When you stand there, it smells good, the air is warm
and the feeling is: Save and sound!

Now ready and close to invisible.

From the inside. Very bright.

Conclusion after a few days of living behind these 'curtain'. We had sunshine and rain and also cloudy days.

The atmosphere when you open the door to my flat has completely changed. Before it was always like a cold breath, now it's a warm breath that seems to whirl around you. It's kind of a sensual sensation to open the door and feel and smell. Warm, slightly woody, just great. 

On one of the pictures you can see a rose bush in the background. Also we carried our pots with jasmine 'outside', so that there will be my very own perfumed air.

When I now open the window warm air floods into the room, this is so new and crazy. But it makes me happy. So that even an outdoor girl thinks about staying inside ...