Katrin Lesser

Berlin holiday residence Taut’s Home

Taut’s Home – Travel back in time at Berlin´s stylish 1930s
Rentable museum in the UNESCO-protected Horsehoe estate

Suitable for up to four guests, Taut’s Home e is a real-life experience of design history. It is a stimulating place to visit and offers a viable alternative for travelers looking for more than just another impersonal hotel and mainstream tourist attractions. If you appreciate the fine architecture and interior design of the “Golden Twenties” or wish to sample life in an original Taut suburban home, you are in the right place.

Built in 1925-30, Bruno Taut’s “Hufeisensiedlung” is probably the most outstanding example of innovative German town planning. The estate in the south of Berlin enjoys international renown as a milestone of social building reforms and modern urban housing policy. It is fun to stroll through this mixture of carefully arranged townhouses and modernistic apartment blocks to experience the rural charm of the carefully woven fabrics of streets and public spaces. In 2008 the “Horseshoe Estate” was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status. But it is not just the special color scheme and the wide range of visual design on the buildings exterior view that are really impressive – the same is true for the clever room layouts and subtle details inside. Up to now few outsiders could ever see just how high living standards are behind these colorful facades. The two owners, landscape architect Katrin Lesser and her husband, graphic designer Ben Buschfeld, decided to do something about this, so that now architecture lovers from all over the world could enjoy the genuine interior colors and numerous originals in full. Our vacation home is completely restored and furnished in the style of the 1930s. It shows a passion for historic details and vintage interior design, and includes a small reference library of modern architecture in Berlin, too. Welcome to Taut’s Home.

As you leave the subway, on the corner you will immediately spot Taut’s Home, a distinctive, white building with clean, angular lines recalling the “International Style” or Bauhaus Modernism. This was combined with a green residential neighborhood in line with a popular demand among reformers of the 1920s. The large front yard has been restored according to the original blueprint with a small terrace, a number of fruit trees, lilac bushes and a hedge of wild roses. Starting here, you walk through pathways lined with flowering trees and terraced garden homes to reach the impressively curved, 350 meter long structure which gave this residential estate its name. Only a few hundred meters from Taut’s Home stands “Schloss Britz”, a handsome classicist building in leafy surrounds with a manor converted for cultural events. Here you will find several restaurants, performance stages and two museums. A short walk away, the former site of Germanys federal garden show is maintained as “Britzer Garten”, a sprawling, delightfully varied park that is an attractive destination for garden lovers and joggers all year round. Moreover, the subway link is excellent for reaching other landmarks of Classical Modern Architecture and a wide range of tourist and cultural offerings.

Taut’s Home is a cultural treasure with the character of a museum. All furnishings are either hand-picked originals or made to measure from vintage 1930s models. This is probably the closest you can get to the spirit of emergent Modernism in Berlin. But unlike a museum our house isn’t designed just to be looked at, but lived in. Due to the passionate restoration work the house received the Berlin Monument Award (Ferdinand-von-Quast Medal) and the highly prestigious European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award 2013.

Taut’s Home was carefully laid out as an accommodation following strict conservation practice,with all the modern amenities
• GREEN ROOM – living area with a nostalgic touch, large sofa, dining table, a handfull of guidebooks and reader’s corner
• BLUE ROOM – main bedroom in classic modern style with large double bed, elegant writer’s desk and treetop views
• YELLOW ROOM – can serve as a second bedroom with a double bed (140 cm) and a window to the garden
• KITCHEN – a replica of another Taut housing development nearby with red flooring and blue ceiling
• BATHROOM – small, cozy, functional and refreshing, yet with a touch of sophistication
• FRONT YARD – sit back and relax on 200 sqm of patio and lawn with shady fruit trees

Where to book
The minimum rental period is three nights. The private owners, Katrin Lesser and Ben Buschfeld, live nearby. They are committed to preserving the heritage of the estate and are well-informed about the history. For further info, photos, prices and a reservation form for Taut’s Home see the website www.tautshome.com.

Or contact the owner directly to arrange your stay or add a private tour: Phone +49 (0)30 60107193 or mail@tautshome.com