A House With Stories
Every home has a story but there is something about old houses that I love — the many stories that have happened there. One house I recently visited was old, scandalous, full of history, and now part of modern life as a rental to an expat family today.
I had been trying to figure out how to get Nola together with her best friend from school since we don’t live close to each other. It’s a 35-minute drive through old villages, chicken farms, vineyards and busy highways that ended with me inching our van through an old stone-and-iron-gated entrance. She lives in an old house with lots of stories and it was so fun to see it and learn about its past.
The garden was lined with tall oak trees that would be a dream for any kid. And old stone fountain from the late 1800s was straight ahead with the main house above. Our new friend was waiting for us in the door of a side building, from the 1890s, where she lives now. It originally served as a wine press and cellar with rooms and staircases, and tile and an original fresco that tells you right away this was an important place. It’s so beautiful the village church just around the corner made a replica of this original fresco.
The original owner became wealthy with his textile business in the Stuttgart area. When WWII began, the Third Reich contracted with him to provide all the uniform and parachute fabrics, further increasing his wealth. The Stuttgart area was heavily bombed in WWII and his main house on this estate had a bomb dropped right in the middle, destroying the main house. This was rebuilt but not restored. The other buildings on the estate remained intact.
Heater! Fire is lit from other room and these ceramic tiles get hot and warm the room.
I loved the original tile, the old windows, and even the cold and damp wine cellar, complete with original wine barrels and bottles of wine. It was a mix of creepy and lovely. I wondered at all the people that had come through these doors for business or friendship over the last 125 years. Now it’s just a cool place to live with families coming and going every few years.
When we were first coming to Germany, we thought we would be living out in a small village, and an old home — something just like this — but we were required to live in the apartments close to work instead which has a lot of pros, and cons too. It was so fun to meet a new friend, tour the house and learn about it’s history. I can’t wait to go back.
