Architects Gangoly & Kristiner Architekten have converted an old winegrower’s residence in Langegg, Austria, into a welcoming holiday retreat that merges traditional character with modern interior design. The renovation adopts a laid-back entertaining style, offering ample space for visitors and an intriguing blend of hues, materials, and architectural features.
The dwelling maintains much of its rustic appearance, featuring a steep, red-tiled roof, dark wood walls, and small windows that give it a familiar farmhouse feel. The remodeling introduces a different architectural style through extensive glass areas, grey wood slats, and a lightweight terrace cover.
Traditional Austrian Character Meets Contemporary Design
Situated on a grassy slope overlooking the rolling hills, the house’s vertical wood screening is notable for wrapping around the upper gables and parts of the exterior to create a unified pattern across old and new sections. A projecting roof held up by slender columns protects the glazed living areas and deck.
The surrounding garden follows the natural slope of the hillside, with tall trees, informal planting, and wide stretches of grass allowing the architecture to blend in with the environment. Views extend across the distant hills, creating a sense of connection to the natural environment.
Blending Old and New
The entryway showcases the distinctive mix of old and new materials found throughout the interior. A timber opening that looks original, framed by thick, weathered beams, is kept as a design element. Its panel opens to show a glass link to the covered terrace, creating a striking contrast between the rough frame and modern details.
Upper Level Design Elements
The stairway features solid, angular steps and exposed concrete. A curved handrail adds a touch of color. The stairway connects the ground floor with the upper gallery.
The upper-floor bathroom has turquoise tiles and a house-shaped shower enclosure. The shower has a slim black metal frame and an angled ceiling. The bathroom has a soft green shade on the walls and ceiling.
A pale yellow-green vanity introduces another color combination. The room has subtle contrasts in its design elements.
Old Timber Meets Unexpected Details
Light floors and pale walls keep the look simple, while full-height linen drapes soften the large glass surfaces. The living area is among the brightest spots, where wide glazing opens the inside to the surrounding hills. A large, light-colored sofa offers ample seating.
A dark, textured fireplace makes a strong visual statement, sitting between the windows so that views remain visible from various spots. Floor-length linen drapes can be drawn to make the area feel more enclosed, offering flexibility in the design.
Entering the dining area, the focus turns to gathering around a large wood table. Its wide surface and prominent grain add warmth, while soft chairs make it comfortable for long meals. Two sculptural pendants hang above, their layered shades casting a warm glow.
The large table size suits the owners’ wish to frequently host guests, supporting a sense of community. Against the wall, a low cabinet with finely grooved fronts sits under a wide window, highlighting the designers’ interest in texture and craftsmanship.
Kitchen Renovation Highlights
The kitchen presents one of the most obvious contrasts between the building’s past and its modern interior. An old arched brick ceiling covers the narrow room, its uneven surface and deep reddish-brown tone giving it an aged character. Heavy wood beams are visible below, including a large central post that splits the room into two work zones.
Below the ceiling, dark wood cupboards line both sides, paired with warm, metallic countertops and slim, contemporary fixtures. Open shelves, hidden strip lights, and adjustable wall lamps provide practical lighting without obscuring the brickwork. A small window with muted green-grey frames brings light to the far end.
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Ceramics, wooden tools, and a copper kettle finish the space, blending everyday function with the older building’s character. The ground-floor bedroom uses a gentle blue-grey palette for its own identity. A band of vertical grooving wraps around the walls at bed height, running between two small windows above the headboard.
The paneling forms a subtle frame for the bed and gives the otherwise plain walls additional texture. Matching window frames extend the color scheme, while simple bedside tables and rounded ceramic lamps provide a pleasing sense of symmetry. The room is furnished simply, allowing the color and architectural detailing to take precedence.
A timber ceiling beam adds a reminder of the house’s age, while the doorway to the adjoining bathroom offers a glimpse of a completely different material palette. The adjoining ensuite bathroom takes a more dramatic approach to materials and colour, with dark stone surfaces covering the shower walls and floor.
A black-framed glass enclosure keeps the space visually open, while both a large rainfall showerhead and a handheld shower provide modern conveniences. A floating vanity with vertically grooved green fronts introduces a fresh note of color, topped with a dark stone counter and a decorative ceramic basin.
An unusual black metal framework supports a suspended fabric panel and a small wooden bowl, adding an unexpected architectural detail to the room. The arrangement of these elements gives the bathroom a slightly unconventional geometry, turning an otherwise functional space into an interesting combination of materials, shapes, and handcrafted finishes.
Connecting Levels with Style
A slender, curved handrail in a very pale pink adds an unexpected touch of color, winding around the stair opening with a softer outline. The space beneath and alongside the stairs is put to practical use, with a long, low storage cabinet topped by a cushioned bench.
The combination creates a convenient place to sit while keeping storage neatly integrated into the interior. A tall fabric screen, slender columns, and small changes in floor height further define the circulation area, creating a sense of flow and continuity throughout the space.
Upstairs, the gallery lounge makes use of the space beneath the steeply pitched roof. Two long, sofa-style daybeds line one wall, furnished with cushions in different textures and muted patterns. Opposite, a tall, open shelving unit holds a record collection and turntable, creating a dedicated area for listening to music.
The height of the cabinet also provides a little privacy, allowing someone to stretch out on the sofa behind it without being immediately visible from the gallery. At the end of the room, a large window follows the triangular shape of the roof, with vertical timber slats filtering the daylight.
Upper Floor Retreats
The unusual window shape emphasizes the building’s traditional roofline, while the slatted screen gives the interior a more contemporary appearance. The upper-floor bedroom has a more informal feel, with its sharply sloping ceiling creating a cosy space beneath the roof.
Glazed doors at the end of the room open towards a small balcony, framing an expansive view of the Austrian countryside. The bedroom’s simple finishes and uncluttered arrangement allow the unusual proportions of the space and the scenery beyond to become its main features.
This geometric arrangement makes the shower an architectural feature, playing with the relationship between the pitched roof and the interior partitions.
The construction was carried out by RÖCK Bau GmbH, with furniture by Möbelbau Breitenthaler GmbH, and windows by KAPO Fenster und Türen GmbH. Electric work was done by Elektro Sturm GmbH, and MEP by Pack Installationen Mst, all of whom played a significant role in bringing this unique project to life, with the renovation market in Austria being a significant factor in the project’s success, valued at €203 billion.