Hinterhouse

The hintercompany hotel concept aims to provide an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life, providing its guests with an opportunity to strengthen their connection with nature. Striving to give back, the hintercompany plants 10 trees for every booking.

This compact house fits two bedrooms, one bathroom and an open-plan living space into 930 square feet. The living space, flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides, is organized around a central wood stove that rotates 360°, providing relaxing views of the fire from every angle. A maple farmhouse table, crafted with bridle joints, doubles as a kitchen island ­– one of the space-saving techniques in the house. A custom vessel-sink raises a cutting board to a comfortable height and is compartmentalized to include a herb garden full of basil, mint, and sage. The bedrooms fit queen beds snuggly wall-to-wall. Sliding panels hide a TV at the end of each bed letting you cuddle up to a movie or focus on the expansive views out the window. A ceiling cove wraps around the house to provide space for recessed blinds and indirect lighting. In the bathroom, the concrete slab stretches into the curbless shower and a large window provides views of the forest while showering. A focus on transparency in every room pulls the distant landscape into the house.

The skin and bones of the house were built almost entirely out of sustainably-forested native wood. The house’s exterior is wrapped in 2-1/2” custom-milled white cedar boards, a low-maintenance choice that will ensure hinterhouse ages graciously while blending with the surrounding forest. The interior is clad with red pine planks oiled white. The central service block is covered with ebony-stained Douglas fir plywood. Sliding shutters help control the light and privacy at hinterhouse. The shutters were designed to mimic the siding; the gaps in the shutters align with the channels in the cedar cladding. The house can transform and close up completely for protection from the elements, or slide open to allow the light and views in.

A winding staircase carved out of the hillside leads down to a sauna designed as a replica of the main house. To complete the full cycle of hot, cold, relax in the Scandinavian spa experience, the sauna is equipped with an outdoor cold shower and hanging hammocks.