Bergstill
The place

Where the road runs out.

Bergstill sits above Tauplitz, on the shoulder of the Totes Gebirge. Below, the Salzkammergut folds away in white; above, nothing but the ridge and the weather.

The valley through the dining glass
Late light on the Grimming, seen from the table
The house

Old larch, taken from a barn a valley over, lines the ceilings and one long wall of every room. Against it, the walls are kept white and bare — limewash, not gallery paint — so the wood and the snow do the talking.

The kitchen is dark slate and quiet cream. There is a fire, and it is laid before you arrive. There is no television, and the signal gives out at the last farm. This is not an oversight.

Reclaimed larch against white walls
The rooms

Four rooms, eight beds

The double room, larch behind the bed
The larch room — a wall of old oak behind the bed
The twin room in morning light
The twin — pine beds, wool blankets folded
The bathroom, oak and black steel
The bath — oak, black steel, a warm rail
Snow through the heart of a shutter
Through the shutter — snow to the rail
Snow to the terrace rail. A week with nowhere to be.
From the welcome book
Oak stair, glass balustrade
The stair, up to the eaves
Cut crystal on old oak
Cut crystal, laid on old oak
Evenings

When the fire is lit and the light goes

The lounge, a corner fire, sheepskin on the sofa
The lounge — a fire in the corner, the valley beyond
A candle at the window, snow to the ridge
A candle at the glass, snow to the ridge
Getting here

Two hours from Salzburg, and a world further.

From Salzburg1 h 50 by car
From Graz1 h 40 by car
Nearest stationBad Mitterndorf, 12 min
Last shopTauplitz village, 20 min
Check the dates