Visitors’ comments - quotes from our guestbook

A wonderful place! We never thought "spending the night in a museum" could be so pleasant.
You experience Berlin in a completely different way if you can come "home" at night. It was hard to say goodbye after a week.
Thank you very very much! I was in heaven here for three days – my birthday couldn’t have been nicer! As an "old Britzer" [from the district of Berlin-Britz] I was transported back six decades to my childhood on an absolutely charming, incomparable and authentic journey. The two owners captured my heart. I'll definitely come back soon.
I’ve never seen anything quite so thrilling during Berlin’s Open Monument Day – and I’ve been going for many years!
What a wonderful experience: the elegance of simplicity, the attention to detail, the tangible experience of color. This is therapy for chromophobes, of whom there are an awful lot in architectural planning.
We read about Tauts' Home in AIT [an architectural trade magazine] and got in touch with you directly. It topped our expectations. Today's architecture students need to study this.
Can we turn back the clock? I’m delighted!
Bruno Taut would be absolutely thrilled to see how his work comes alive with such careful attention to detail and quality. We were very comfortable and enjoyed the peace and quiet after the bustle of sightseeing. We’ll definitely be back.
The house is great – a different kind of Berlin experience, with breakfast in the garden. Went jogging in Britz Garden and enjoyed the evening air in Berlin’s Gartenstadt [Garden City] district. Thank you.
Taut’s Home was a suitable place to prepare my presentation on "The Zehlendorf Roof War" [a historical dispute triggered by the modernistic design of Bruno Taut's buildings and the use of flat rooftops]. The raspberries gave me a sense of "self-sufficiency." It's really fun to stay here.
A wonderful opportunity to recall and ponder anew what architecture can achieve.

[= translated excerpts from our guestbook]

Experts’ comments

"The Jury was charmed and fascinated by the careful restoration of this small but important house on the 1925 UNESCO world heritage site (...) The restoration was based on intensive research, material evidence, surviving elements, photographs and knowledge of the design principles of its period. A rewarding work of restoration and renewal, it commemorates a highly significant phase in the history of civil architecture. The outcome is a lively and powerful combination of bold colours, reason and form brought together by design. The Jury strongly approved of the project’s power of example to comparable urban settings."
From the laudatory speech by Bruno Taut expert Winfried Brenne at the awarding of the 2013 Berlin Monument Prize: "A house, only 65 square meters in size, and barely 5 meters wide - and yet it combines the fascination of Berlin in the twenties (...) To live in it for a few days promises nothing less than the transformation of a place of fantasy longing into the real world. Starting from the hypothetical question: "How would the architect have furnished this house?", Katrin Lesser and Ben Buschfeld have given the house a sensual quality entirely in the spirit of its creator. In no hotel room in Berlin does one have a comparable chance to let oneself fall so intensely into another time like it is possible in Tautes Heim."
From the laudatory speech of Regula Lüscher, Berlin´s former Senate Building Director, at the additional national award ceremony of the Europa Nostra Award 2013: "Tautes Heim is a masterpiece of monumental education. More impressively than any words could do, it brings the architecture of the twenties back to life and convinces all who enter it of the value of modernism. Prejudices that modernism is necessarily cool, sterile, boring are unpretentiously and at the same time powerfully refuted by Tautea Heim with its colorfulness and many homely details."
Comment by Christine Mengin, Professor for Architectural History at the Sorbonne in Paris, founder of the European Architectural History Network (EAHN) and long-time secretary general of the Foundation Le Corbusier: "I rented the house a couple of years ago and enjoyed this experience tremendously: the feeling of being in a vivid heritage. I am historian, and really felt like living in an archive transformed into an attractive today house while experiencing the incredibly respectful archeology and recreation by Ben and Katrin."

[= excerpt from letters, jury verdicts and laudations of the "European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award 2013"]

Press comments

If you’re looking for Modernist architectural icons in Berlin, you’ll find them in Britz.
("Architektur & Wohnen", 03-2012)
Light, air, sun and color: For the holidaymaker, the ideals of Neues Bauen [New Building - a German architectural movement from the 1910s to 1930s] come alive in Bruno Taut’s Hufeisensiedlung.
("Weltkunst", Berlin special issue "The 100 Most Important Places and Dates")
The current owners have refurbished [the house] according to conservation practice, and the result is immaculate. They have equipped it with items true to the era, right down to the coffee pot and the Good Book. To say it is "lovingly" furnished (a trivialized expression) is appropriate for once.
(Falk Jäger in "Metamorphosen", 03-2012)
A special living experience with original interiors, vintage craftsmanship and 1930s furnishings.
(Petra Stephan in "AIT", 7/8-2012)
The functional floor plans and historic charm of this house are impressive. Modern comforts are integrated in discreet fashion.
(architektourist.com)
Even the garden has recovered its original look.
("arcguide", 35-2012)
Completed earlier this year, this is an exemplary restoration of a 1930 terrace house designed by Bruno Taut. What’s more, this holiday rental – a listed monument in the Hufeisensiedlung, and rendered in its original colors – takes you on a journey back to the roots of Modernism. (...) It shows incredible attention to detail, and is authentically restored. Everything is perfect, down to the smallest detail. (Thomas Wieckhorst in Bauhandwerk 11-2012)
Lodging in chic 1920s design: "Taut’s Home" is a different kind of vacation rental.
("Brigitte", 17-2012)
The furnishings, accessories and even the kitchen embody '20s living in its purest form. This is like booking time travel, and not just for fans of architecture and design.
("Schöner Wohnen" special online issue: "The most beautiful design cottages")
Staying in the UNESCO World Heritage property Taut’s Home is like traveling back to Berlin of the 1920s and ‘30s on holiday.
("DB mobil" - German Rail magazine, 05-2012)
It gives one the feel of having hidden in a museum until it’s been locked up for the night, then emerging to wander freely through the rooms, not restricted by ropes and security glass. The estate itself is also worth exploring, rich as it is with interesting and progressive design. A wonderful alternative to your run-of-the-mill hotel.
(weheart.co.uk)

[= translated excerpts from our press comments]

Taut's Home on German television

N-TV - "Ratgeber Bauen & Wohnen", television feature + web-stream, duration 5.5 minutes, initial broadcast 9th of Oct. 2012
Trailer and Making of-report for the 20-minute guided video tour at "Inside-Iconic-Houses" (full version available as a Video-on-demand)

press comments

Visitors’ comments - quotes from our guestbook

Experts’ comments

Press comments

Taut's Home on German television

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