Frieda & Johann

Bezau sits in the middle of the Bregenzerwald, a valley in Vorarlberg at the western end of Austria, and it is quietly one of the most interesting places in Europe to look at buildings. The valley has an unbroken tradition of timber craft, and over the past few decades local architects and joiners have carried it into contemporary work, so ordinary village buildings here, fire stations, bus stops, kindergartens, are worth stopping for. The Kanisfluh, the mountain the balcony faces, dominates the skyline. Frieda and Johann sit right at the forest edge, quiet enough for the walk to feel like leaving, but close enough to walk into the village.

The two buildings went up in 2022, designed by Innauer Matt, an architecture practice based in Bezau itself, and built from the facade to the joinery by craftspeople from the valley, some of whom the owners have known since childhood. That local sourcing is the point rather than a detail: this is a valley where the woodwork is the architecture. Inside, the floors and ceilings are local spruce, the walls are natural lime plaster, and the beds sit in built-in alcoves in the old Bregenzerwald way. Frieda has a sauna and two bedrooms with their own bathrooms; Johann is smaller and sits above the owners' own home, with sleeping alcoves and a little gallery for children to climb into. The hosts live on site and describe themselves as being around when you want them and out of the way when you do not.