An intact half-timbered house can be lifted by a beam with a crane. And you simply remove beams there? Our predecessor building, a medieval half-timbered house under [Denkmalschutz]—by the way, a cozy spacious nest for the family—cost us more over the years than a new building—even though we did a lot ourselves, but without botching it, with sensitivity and the necessary knowledge. Old houses need such enthusiasts, otherwise you cannot preserve them. I think the best owner for them is someone who maintains them sparingly but diligently and with quality and has no money for nonsense. You can’t get in with large machines; you need, I call it, [Denkmalmaterial], which comes very close to ecological building, much of it is manual work. When you open something somewhere, it’s like a surprise egg, only you can’t shake it beforehand. Of course, you can learn it! Of course, you can carry out the renovations with your own capital! And you get a house with a character that is difficult and expensive to achieve with a new build, no little boxes. But low ceilings are hardly fixable.
The facade is exposed more often than in any house without a mix of materials. You shouldn’t find the crookedness so bad. The living climate was superb. The heating costs were lower than in a post-war stone house; we experienced clay and straw as absolutely competitive and highly valued building materials. But as Haydee says: If, for example, the wood is no good or was already puny from the start, that alone can be a knockout criterion.
You can also work with the [Denkmalschutz] when no one is on it. I would say, then even best.
Best regards
Gabriele