Architecture Wednesday: Bornet House

I’ll be honest; I do love a grand home, rustic, or sleek; country or city. But they always seem to be kinda big. Then I found Bornet House, a beautifully rustic, vintage, and small, barn that has been transformed into a minimalist luxurious getaway.

Bornet House sits in the countryside of Ollon, Switzerland, still bears a lot of its original masonry from its barn days, which adds that historical character and charm, even though much of it resembles rubble lo these many years since it was built.

On the ground floor is a singular, open space for the kitchen, living room and dining area. Closer to the entrance, the main bedroom actually sits on a higher level, slightly, built up on a sort of wooden pedestal.

But that difference in levels gives the bedroom and public spaces some sense of privacy, as though it’s its own little escape. At the same time, the fact that it sits only slightly higher than the other rooms and isn’t closed off at the top affords the living room a double height ceiling, making it feel even more open.

In terms of materiality, the inside of the house is cohesive to the outside; the tones of the natural materials outside of the house match the stonework and concrete floors of the interior. In addition, the designers opted to stay true to the history by refraining from altering the walls and yet and they also accounted for the way it sits on a slope as well, One space was altered though; in the rebuilt wall, a window was added to take in an unobstructed view of the Rhone Valley. And a small terrace opens off the bedroom giving the homeowner a chance to interact with the people passing back and enjoying the ancient village.

The final area of the house, not always visited by guests, is the basement, which houses a home office and a sort of plant room,  which is actually partially underground thanks to the way the land the house sits on slopes.

It’s not big; it’s not grand. But I could be quite happy at Bornet House.

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Savioz Fabriaai Architects

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