A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

Converted Barn In Swiss Wilderness Would Make For Ideal Post-Christmas Retreat

1448460084858exterieur_finale

(via) The week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day is an odd one. Though the days feel like they should be (and once were when we were kids) all about the cycle of play, rest and restorative contemplation, they’re instead increasingly marked by the almost hysterical consumption that has come to define the lead up to Christmas. The returning and exchanging of gifts, the lining up to buy even more things, the excessive food and drink enjoyed with festive “fuck yeahs” — it all feels like it’s gone off the rails a little.

We got to thinking along these lines when we saw the above photograph of “The Larch Barn” on the edge of a forest in the Swiss valley of Bagnes (all shots by Christophe Voisin). It just made us sigh. The old barn was completely overhauled into a primary residence for a couple by local firm Alp’Architecture. While it doesn’t appear to have every amenity we’d prefer in a wintry escape (eg. a fireplace), its modern, cozy bones still struck a wistful chord.

We’re not so old as to be incapable of remembering when this week was all about laying low as a family unit in relative stillness. We know the days aren’t best served in cities of distraction. We remember the snow and the quiet, the reading and the record player, the isolation and the wilderness, the leftovers and the love — we recognise it all in these images, and desire it for ourselves, either hidden away off the Hope-Princeton or Malahat highways or somewhere in the Similkameen Valley.

8720b05ed434cdff63a98259094e2e36 1448460100982exterieur_2_site afa0f7806bf95dd6e81095e013895eb3 beae3e54bd495583005fdda190b6d855 ca65ded0b49d6f82667b8b7da964339c f4c856c86555aeb7dc60ee4ff9f3edc3 f1548cdd8c1d20d464137578f884bce9

There is 1 comment

SPACED // Tiny ‘Nature Villa’ in the Woods

It lacks a kitchen but we'd happily cook over a fire nearby just so we could sleep in that bed and hang on that deck...

Contemplating Life on a Handmade ‘Floating Island’

The big deck holds a BBQ, a herb garden, a hammock, and several other wonderful things besides (like a baby blue canoe).

We’d Like to Self-Isolate in This Off-Grid Tiny House on the Other Side of the World

To be able to escape the city for the sake of social distancing is a dream worth having in these weird and dangerous times.

We Dig These Cabins Designed For Sustaining Good Times in the Wild

The cool and remote constructions take full advantage of photovoltaic panels, grey/black water treatment and rainwater collection.