Cuckoo4Design

Crashing My Brother and Sister-in-Law’s New House

German House Tours· Travel

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Today I want to give you a little glimpse into my brother and sister-in-law’s new “old” house. They just moved in this year and have a lot of plans with the place. I love this charming house as much as they do.

If you missed reading about their last “old” home, then you can catch up by clicking HERE.

The previous owner won an award from the city for the restoration
and modern renovation of this old home:
They have a courtyard which is secured and surrounded by high walls
and this is the front door to the courtyard entrance that my son is trying to open:
There is a nice wooden patio and fire pit in the front courtyard:
The front entrance door:
My grandfather’s dueling fraternity chair which is standing in my brother’s office.

The former nunnery dining hall which is now their dining room has beautiful arched windows and the door you can see in the photo below lead to the chapel which is now their living room:

The original and former chapel ceiling:
The dining room ceiling:
To the left of the above photo is a floor door to a cellar which was most likely used by the nuns to keep food cooled and stored and they are hoping to use it as a wine cellar one day:
And then they have a second  spooky descend to another basement area.
My kids love it and call it very creepy:
Their kitchen is very modern and the dining room and kitchen are heated with radiant heat floors:
Do you recognize the horse fruit bowl that I have on our coffee table? I found another one and brought them one.
The staircase to the former sleeping quarters of the nuns:
The sleeping quarters are now their bathroom, sauna and bedrooms:
Their walk-in closet which still needs a ceiling light:
A gorgeous free standing bathtub:
Staircase looking down:
The neighboring rooftops and vegetable gardens:

They don’t know that much about the history of the building. They are actually still researching it. All they do know is that it was once owned by a Franciscan nunnery called St. Josefskongregation who dedicated their lives’ work to taking care of people with disabilities. Seven of their nuns were able to live here.

The property had a devastating house fire and the previous owners restored the property lovingly which earned them the above mentioned award from the city.

Here are some of the old photos to show you how bad it was:

I didn’t take the photo from far enough to show you the little bell tower on the left.

I’d love to find out who owned the property before the nuns. I think my brother will write to them to see if they have any more information. I’ll keep you posted.

I hope you enjoyed this little house crash as much as I did.

Tschüß

(Youleeya)

Germany posts:
2014
2013 posts:
2012 posts:
my brother’s old place part 1 and part 2

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Comments

  10. Jenn - HomeStyleReport says

    Their home is absolutely beautiful!!!!! Such a neat history, I hope they are able to find out even more! What do you think the second basement area was used for? Maybe that’s where the nuns hid their wine and the first cellar was just a decoy 😉

  16. Gretchen says

    I’ve been looking forward to this post ever since you mentioned it at Haven, and it didn’t disappoint! What an amazing space!

  20. Katrina ChicLittleHouse says

    what a beautiful space filled with so much history to call home, love how the previous owners lovely restored the home so much vision!

    Your brother and sister’s style is so amazing and fresh and European! so happy you were able to share!