A young couple with a growing family near Munich, Germany, were inspired to undertake an epic home renovation by a huge empty farmhouse owned by their family since the 17th century. The project grew far larger than they had anticipated, but now, four years later, they have created a masterpiece they can proudly call home.
The renovation was the brainchild of Sabrina Schmidpeter, 31, a business psychologist and flight attendant for an international airline, and her husband, a 38-year-old management consultant in Big Tech. The couple have a 3-year-old child together.
“Over the course of four incredible years that saw many ups and downs, we have managed to preserve and tastefully renovate the three-part farm,” Sabrina told The Epoch Times. “Firstly, the original farmhouse, and then the two additional outbuildings adjacent to the main building. All of this was completed while working full-time at our jobs.
“We have lived on four continents and traveled to over 30 countries. Our roots are, and will remain, here in beautiful Bavaria ... we are enthusiastic about Bavarian culture and heritage, with the focus of keeping this alive through our home.”
New Life and Love
The farmhouse, comprising 500 square meters (over 1,600 square feet) of living space, has been owned by Sabrina’s family since the foundational walls of the courtyard were laid in the 17th century. Some of Sabrina’s earliest memories are of her grandparents living there. When they passed, the home was left uninhabited.“I never would have thought of living here with my own family, especially without such major renovations and changes to the courtyard,” she said. “However, in 2018 ... we decided to wake the farm from its slumber and breathe new life and love into it.”
Sabrina and her husband’s main concerns were sustainability and balancing the preservation of historical architecture with modern additions to the building. Straight off the bat, they hired a surveyor and a financing partner to help support the huge cost of the renovation, and eventually local tradesmen for the work they couldn’t complete themselves.
The building was “dilapidated” when work began, Sabrina said, since the last major renovation took place in 1912 and the house had more recently been used for storage. Yet the couple were determined to preserve as many original features as possible for “character and flare.”
Some of their favorite features include the high beams and unique vaulted ceilings, and the original wrought iron balcony that’s been returned to its rightful place above the main entrance. “Hopefully in the summer it will be adorned with fresh flowers,” Sabrina said.
As they unveiled the old brick masonry and restored the bare bones of the building, so they decided to pay homage to its history by accentuating more of its features.
“Vaulted ceilings combined with ribbed and boho ceilings were painted white, to make the space bright and airy,” Sabrina said. "We preserved the exposed beams that made up the original roof truss ... their original cuts were left to showcase the scars and cracks as they are, giving character and life to the property.
“The living room loft is an impressive space with a high ceiling. A former hayloft, it has been extensively renovated and converted into a modern home office ... small quirks and crooked walls are part of the charm of old houses, which formed our vision to not only see old and new together, but to unite them as one.”
Humbling Stories
As they renovated, Sabrina and her husband collected anecdotal and written histories of the property, memories of lasting encounters and events “etched into its foundation.” The farmhouse was a shelter during the First and Second World Wars, and still has the bakery, attic smoker, and individual wood stoves that hail to times past.“These memories and stories humble us, and encourage us to appreciate the finer things in life that were once rare commodities,” Sabrina said.
With Sabrina’s husband project managing, the couple cut down on costs by gutting and stripping the house themselves, with the support of their family, before hiring skilled labor from outside. Reflecting, Sabrina claimed that the biggest stressors during the epic 4-year enterprise actually came from managing family and work life, not the build itself.
A Complete Lifestyle Change
In the summer of 2021, the family’s dream came true: the farmhouse was finished. The scale and demand of the project had given Sabrina’s family the chance to grow, and learn how to handle stress together; moving in was the chance to enjoy the fruits of their hard labor and make new memories.“To be honest we were quite tired when we moved in,” Sabrina said, “and are still today, only to realize how much has really changed over the last years when we compare photos of before and after.
“Having just moved from a small apartment in central Munich, the new house swallowed up our old furniture. However, little by little we settled in ... it has been a complete lifestyle change, one much-wanted, to go from living in the center of a large city to enjoying the surrounding nature and space to flourish, especially with a growing family.”
After 18 months in their new home, Sabrina admitted their “to-do” list has yet to shrink. The next item on her agenda is to add soft furnishings to the hallway and bedrooms to make the rooms warmer and more welcoming. She is also considering large indoor plants and expanding the indoor gallery.
“However we have not set ourselves a time limit here,” Sabrina said. “One thing is clear: we won’t stop running out of projects in and around the house anytime soon!”
While insisting that it takes more time, work, money, and energy to renovate a large home than one can even imagine, Sabrina encourages other budding renovators to stay positive, “even in the moments where you feel like the world is on top of you.”
The most rewarding aspect for Sabrina was watching the gradual transformation.
She said: “From what was once a pile of ruins, brick and mud and mortar slowly transformed into the vision we had created in our minds ... being able to save a historic building with so much personal sentimental value and turning it into a home for ourselves, and future generations, has been the most fulfilling part of the journey.”
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