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Collection · 8 houses

Eight houses that do not heat the winter away

From a valley head to a ridge crest: addresses where cold, fog and early darkness belong to the stay instead of threatening it.

Some winter houses try to leave the season outside the door. These eight bring it in: east-facing windows, a stove in the middle, and evenings that start at four.

The houses

01

Stone pine · Firn · Dusk

Stone Pine

Farmhouse at the head of the valley

A house at the closed end of a valley, its rooms built from stone pine and its windows facing east. In January the sun stands so low that it clears the ridge at half past nine, and the whole house waits for it. The heating runs on wood from the farm's own slope.

Architecture
Farmhouse of 1874, timber-frame extension, roof newly laid.
Interior
Untreated stone pine, a tiled stove in the parlour, wool instead of down.
Atmosphere
Very still; the loudest hour of the day is the guests arriving.
Best for
Anyone who would rather walk the winter than ride it.
  • Ski store with a drying room
  • Route advice the evening before
  • One supper cooked for everyone
  • Bus stop outside the door

The detail

A thermometer from 1930 hangs in the hallway, and the owner still writes down its reading every morning.

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02

Firn · Loden · Iron

Firnwater

Guesthouse at the edge of the upper village

A house the owners deliberately did not build next to the lift. It is a twelve-minute walk to the valley station, and those twelve minutes are the reason it is so quiet here. The water comes from the property's own spring and is noticeably cold in winter.

Architecture
Guesthouse of 1908, rubble-stone base, balconies to the south.
Interior
Loden on the walls, iron bedsteads, larch floors.
Atmosphere
Familiar without being intrusive; you get called by your name.
Best for
A week with children old enough to walk it themselves.
  • Ski room with boot dryers
  • Sledges to borrow
  • Soup in the afternoon
  • No breakfast before seven, but it runs until ten

The detail

The yard fountain keeps running at minus fifteen, because the spring is warmer than the air.

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03

Spruce · Granite · Rime

Frostbeck

Forestry house on the high plateau

A house on the plateau where the fog stands in the room more often than the sun does. Put up with that and you are given days when the forest is entirely white and you can see your own breath longer than the path. The owners lend snowshoes and say honestly when it is not worth going.

Architecture
Forestry house of 1961, timber cladding, triple-glazed windows.
Interior
Spruce, granite slabs in the bathrooms, a bench at the stove.
Atmosphere
Raw and damp outside, and correspondingly warm indoors.
Best for
Two nights in fog with the book you never otherwise finish.
  • Snowshoes to borrow
  • A weather note on the door each morning
  • Drying chamber for clothing
  • An evening menu of four dishes

The detail

The common-room wall carries a chalked tally of how many days this year the view reached beyond two kilometres.

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04

Birch · Slate · Smoke

Weatherbirch

Spa house above the cross-country trails

A 1950s spa building that lost its curtains and kept its windows. The rooms face the slope, and if you set the first track in the morning you can see from bed whether anyone got there before you. In the basement there is a small bath fed with local water.

Architecture
Spa house of 1957, slate façade, foyer in original condition.
Interior
Birch furniture, terrazzo in the bathrooms, lamps from the original stock.
Atmosphere
Calm and slightly old-fashioned; the house is in no hurry.
Best for
Travellers who like their winter slow.
  • Small bath in the basement
  • Trail entrance behind the house
  • Breakfast with hot grain
  • Reading room with maps

The detail

The foyer keeps the original key cabinet, with pigeonholes for rooms that no longer exist.

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05

Silver fir · Soot · Snow

Whitefir Farm

High farm at eleven hundred metres

A farm whose roof is pulled down so far that February snow covers half of it. Inside it is dark and warm, outside bright and cold, and between the two is a door you have to shoulder open. The kitchen cooks with whatever the valley has left.

Architecture
Farmhouse of 1793, hipped roof down to chest height, byre converted.
Interior
Silver fir, blackened beams, beds set into wall recesses.
Atmosphere
Dark, warm, with a stove as the centre of the house.
Best for
Anyone who does not want to go out again after supper.
  • Stove in the common room
  • Touring skis to borrow
  • Supper at one table
  • No mobile signal, but a landline

The detail

Above the parlour door are carved the years when snow reached the ridge; the last entry is 2006.

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06

Moss · Pewter · Fog grey

Moss Spring

Narrow house in a stream valley

A slim house beside a stream you can hear from every room. In winter the water freezes at its edges and leaves a black channel down the middle that shines at night. The walking routes start at the front door and climb immediately.

Architecture
Valley house of 1921, rubble-stone base, timber extension from local wood.
Interior
Pewter-grey walls, old chests of drawers, wool curtains.
Atmosphere
The water is constant; after two nights you stop hearing it.
Best for
Guests who set out even at three degrees and raining.
  • Drying cabinet for boots
  • Packed lunch to order
  • Maps in the corridor
  • Walking poles to borrow

The detail

A stone in the stream carries a struck mark the family has read the water level against for four generations.

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07

Pine · Iron oxide · Frost

Ridgelight

Sports house on the ridge crest

A house directly on the crest, windows facing north-west, where the wind is a subject all year round. The owners made the rooms smaller and doubled the common room, because the evenings up here are long. It is a hundred metres to the ridge path.

Architecture
Sports house of 1974, newly insulated outside, window openings enlarged.
Interior
Pine, rust-red textiles, beds with tall headboards.
Atmosphere
Sporting, with guests who leave early and come back early.
Best for
Cross-country skiing and anyone who wants company in the evening.
  • Waxing room for skis
  • Trail report each morning
  • Hot supper from five
  • Bunk room for groups next door

The detail

A windsock hangs from the gable, brought by a guest in 1998 and replaced every year since.

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08

Beech · Chalk · Blue hour

Icebeech

Country house at the foot of the forest

A house at the base of the slope with seven rooms and a terrace that is cleared in winter, because the morning sun lands there first. The forest begins twenty paces further on and does not stop for a long time. In January the place drops into a blue at four o'clock, and the owners switch the outdoor lighting off for it.

Architecture
Country house of 1936, timber frame under render, terrace added in concrete.
Interior
Beech, lime plaster, feather beds, tiled stoves in two rooms.
Atmosphere
Very dark once night falls, and that is intended.
Best for
Anyone who wants to see stars without driving far for them.
  • Terrace cleared through winter
  • Outdoor lights off from ten
  • Breakfast with bread from the house
  • Two rooms with a tiled stove

The detail

A beech in front of the house grows an ice crown on its lower branches each frost, and gave the place its name.

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Write and say where you are going and what interests you about a building. We answer with two or three addresses from the guide, and we say which of them we would book again ourselves.

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