Turmhaus Tirol — Zell am Ziller, Austria
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

As landmarks go, it’s difficult to miss the distinctive silhouette of Turmhaus Tirol. For this, full credit goes to Munich-based architect Grünecker Reichelt and interiors studio Holzrausch for subverting traditional alpine architecture with a slender six-storey pitched-roof tower clad in larch boards that has been piled deep into the mountain side – three stories rising above the snowline, and three cut into the mountain.
The basement levels comprise garage, billiard and wine cellar, and foyer and the first of five guestrooms.
The mood of the house, which is rented in its entirety, is gratifyingly modern alpine in its swathes of fair-faced concrete, natural stone floors, and larch furniture. Light floods in through generously proportioned vitrine windows, the latter creating dramatic backdrops of Zillertal valley with its snow-capped mountains and white-dusted firs.
A sauna leads off the central kitchen on the ground floor, but it’s the verandahs, strategically placed around the house, that offer solitude and bracing tectonic views.
No surprises, but the diversions are here snow-based with a ski resort a bare five-minute drive away. For classic Tyrolean fare, nearby Gastaus Linde has the bases covered, its roast pork and liver an indolent bookend to a day on the slopes.
ADDRESS
Gerlosberg 17g 6280
Zell am Ziller
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
Photo book explores the messy, magical mundanity of new motherhood
‘Sorry I Gave Birth I Disappeared But Now I’m Back’ by photographer Andi Galdi Vinko explores new motherhood in all its messy, beautiful reality
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Rimowa violin case with Gewa strikes the right note
This new Rimowa violin case created in collaboration with Gewa is made of hard-wearing grooved aluminium
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Nordic Knots opens Stockholm showroom in a former cinema
New Nordic Knots Stockholm showroom makes the most of the dramatic interiors of the early-20th-century Eriksbergsteatern
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
Villa One at the One & Only Palmilla — Los Cabos, Mexico
By Chadner Navarro • Published
-
Martim — Wroclaw, Poland
By Daven Wu • Last updated
-
Tattersalls Hotel — Armidale, Australia
By Dimity Noble • Last updated
-
KLoé Hotel — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
By Jennifer Choo • Last updated
-
Casa Hoyos — San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
By Daven Wu • Last updated
-
Littlenap — Hangzhou, China
By Daven Wu • Last updated
-
Casa Santa Teresa — Corsica, France
By Daven Wu • Last updated
-
K5 — Tokyo, Japan
By Danielle Demetriou • Last updated