THE
SPACES
Bern Farmhouse
Dating to the 18th century, this Bernese farmhouse sits within a horse farm, its original timber structure and interiors preserved through generations of family life.
Location: Bern, Switzerland
The farmhouse has remained within the same family, retaining much of its original construction through centuries of use. Timber floors, exposed beams and boarded ceilings run throughout the house, alongside thick plaster walls and deeply set windows. Contemporary interventions are concentrated in the kitchen and bathrooms, modernizing the house without replacing the material fabric that gives it its identity.
At the center of the living space is the original Kachelofen, a traditional Swiss tiled stove that remains in use today. Once part of the house’s heating system, it is now connected to a gas stove, adapting a centuries-old feature to contemporary life. Its decorated ceramic surface sits against the timber and plaster of the surrounding rooms as both a functional element and a record of the house’s history.
The property continues its agricultural life as a horse farm, with the owners keeping horses on the surrounding land. Inside, that sense of continuity is equally personal. Paintings by the owner’s father, who lived in the farmhouse, depict local subjects and hang throughout the rooms. Furniture, paintings and architecture span different generations without turning the house into a period interior.
Seitz furniture was introduced throughout the living and dining spaces, including Helm seating, Limmat tables, the Appenzeller Dining Table and Sideboard, and Chalet seating. Made in Switzerland from solid timber, the pieces sit naturally among the much older wood of the house. Their references to Swiss furniture traditions become particularly direct here: the Chalet series draws from the stabelle, a chair and stool typology long associated with Alpine domestic interiors, while the Appenzeller series incorporates details informed by traditional Appenzell craft.
The relationship is perhaps clearest beside the Kachelofen, where a blackened ash Chalet Stool sits against the elaborate tiled surface and centuries-old timber floor. One is contemporary and the other historic, but both belong to a continuing tradition of Swiss domestic craft based on local material, utility and making things to last.
Rather than treating the farmhouse as something fixed in the past, each generation has continued to live with it. Modern kitchens and bathrooms sit alongside original floors and timberwork; a historic stove remains in use; paintings preserve a personal record of the surrounding landscape; and contemporary Swiss furniture becomes another layer in a house that has evolved over more than three centuries.
