Small, narrow, tall, old – but this house is our dream | ARD Room Tour

Video Description

Cornelia and Reiner's dream home is only four metres wide. The old cottage is so narrow that it has a floor space of just 35 square metres. But spread over four floors, the house still has a living space of almost 140 square metres. Reiner grew up in the narrow residential and commercial building in the middle of Wittlich's old town. Between the butcher's and the hairdresser's, his family used to run a classic corner shop on the ground floor of the house. Built at the end of the 19th century, the narrow house was originally a gift from his great-grandfather to his daughter, who lost her husband in the First World War and needed to be ‘provided for’. The young widow opened a shop in the small house and became a self-employed businesswoman. Later, Reiner's parents took over the so-called full-range shop. The small shop on the ground floor was the centre of the family, while the two upper floors of the house were used as living quarters. After the old townhouse had stood empty for a while, Cornelia and Reiner decided to renovate it a few years ago. The two have known each other since school and were a couple in their youth. But it was not until decades later that the two Cologne residents met again and returned to the Eifel region after turbulent professional years. And so they decided to furnish the narrow house to their taste and to suit their life in old age. With a great deal of love for their former family home and the unconditional desire to preserve and maintain as much as possible without sacrificing modern comforts such as a lift. This is because the four floors of the small, narrow and tall house could only be reached via very steep stairs. At 70 years of age, this is not yet a problem for Cornelia and Reiner – not yet, anyway. That is why they had a lift installed in their old townhouse. It was a huge investment and a major challenge for the two builders and the craftsmen. But it was worth it, because now they can look calmly to the future in their new home. The age of the house is evident on every floor: exposed brickwork, the first coats of paint from when wallpaper did not yet exist, lovingly restored half-timbering, creaky wooden floors – everything was to be made visible again. Preserving and reviving the charm and history of the old townhouse was important to Cornelia and Reiner throughout all phases of construction. And yet it is not a museum. ‘Cornelia is responsible for the interior design and colours, while I take care of construction management,’ says Reiner, describing how they divide up the work. He says he can rely on Cornelia's taste one hundred percent. With a great affinity for art and loving details from both their childhoods and their years together, there is much to discover without the rooms feeling cluttered – something that is very important to both of them. Cornelia loves to design rooms with colour and give each one its own character. Her trademark is to paint the walls and ceilings monochrome in the same shade. This gives the rooms a consistent and elegant look. Whether it's cosy red in the bedroom, reflective silver grey in the dining area or fresh turquoise in the bathrooms. Three years of construction – that's how long the renovations to their narrow house took. There were setbacks along the way, but also successes to celebrate. It was a huge undertaking, they say, but they had reliable, highly skilled craftsmen who often solved problems creatively and sometimes quite pragmatically. They have since become friends and, like all the other guests of the new home, are immortalised in photos in the building's lift. One more reason for Cornelia and Reiner to use the lift again and again and think back gratefully on the intense period of construction but also of celebration. A film by Katharina Pfänder (editor), Johannes Bock (camera), Yannick Marlon (camera) and Diana Kalb (editing). On ARD Room Tour's YouTube channel, people open the doors to their unusual homes. During a very personal tour, they share details about the renovation, furnishings and architecture, and talk about their philosophy on life. ARD Room Tour is a production by NDR, MDR, WDR, SR and SWR for ARD. Subscribe to our channel so you don't miss a single episode! https://www.youtube.com/@ARDRoomTour?... Room Tour is also available in the ARD media library: https://1.ARD.de/RoomTour?yt=caption Imprint: https://www.swr.de/impressum Comments are welcome – but please observe our netiquette: https://www.swr.de/netiquette Data protection: https://www.swr.de/datenschutz #kleinesHaus #altesHaus #RoomTour