“Walser structures were always built in line with the points of the compass and not along streets”, says Lucia Riezler. She breathed new life into one such building that was built in Mittelberg in 1459. It’s situated diagonally opposite the church, in Mittelberg’s ‘Gelbe Zone’ (‘Yellow Zone’) where traffic is limited to a speed of 20 kilometres per hour and pedestrians and drivers enjoy equal rights – and which as a consequence automatically became a place where encounters take place. And then the house also tapers towards the street and is conspicuously bright. Hundreds of honey-coloured shingles cover the façade. They seem to radiate some-thing magical. “People touch them, stop and run their hands over them – that was something we first had to get used to because we live here and my tax-accounting firm is located on the ground floor. But it’s also a compliment for the work that we’ve done.”

Lucia Riezler and her partner, her family and the architect Max Dünser worked for one and a half year to turn her house into something that is so radiantly beautiful. They removed dozens of partition walls and paint and false floors, revealed the original wooden beams and walls, exposed and scrubbed everything down with wire brushes and sanded down the doors for hours on end. All with the help of tradespeople from Kleinwalsertal and in coordination with the monument conservation authorities.