Simon and Franziska Jüttner regard the robustness that enables objects to persist as an expression of quality

Franziska Jüttner is a psychologist and her husband, Simon, is an architect. They live in Bad Hindelang in Bavaria.

“When we bought the house in Allgäu in 2016, we realised very quickly that we wanted to use as much of the original construction as possible in the conversion work: the outer walls, the ceilings, doors – even the old wash basins. However, the idea was not to recreate a farmhouse from 200 years ago. For us it was an experiment to see how high quality an ecological construction that uses sustainable materials can be. To the greatest possible degree, everything had to be recyclable, compostable or combustible, without costing too much. That’s why we decided on plain floorboards and unplastered masonry.”

“We like furniture that endures, that becomes part of the family and that doesn’t get thrown out after a few years. It should still appeal to us 20 years later. And ideally, to our kids as well. A chair needs to be comfortable and sturdy. You need to be able to stand on it from time to time. When we lived in town, social interaction mostly took place in cafés. In the country we meet up at home or visit friends in their homes or in the garden, depending on the time of year. This is why it was important for us to have a space where one can receive a lot of guests and a table at which many people can congregate. This is what home means to us. People who enjoy popping in and out.”

“Our table is used for work, games, homework and – of course – for meals together. Children need to feel that they can be children here. The house needs to be able to deal with the side-effects of this – the scratches, stains and dents. It’s all part of the atmosphere.”