Black Forest House 1650

A Restored 1650 Farmhouse in the Southern Black Forest

Black Forest House 1650 is a 17th-century farmhouse in Wieden, in the southern Black Forest, divided into two independent units that together sleep eight. You can book the Barn, the Hayloft, or the whole house.

Katharina and Helmut have led adventurous lives. She started in winemaking before a career in drinks marketing. He moved from photography into marketing, and once helped send Red Bull to the edge of space. They raised their daughter in Los Angeles, in a home that filled up with visiting creatives, until an idea arrived (in a swimming pool on the Côte d’Azur, as these things do) for somewhere to gather that was nothing like a city.

They found a farmhouse dating back to 1650 in a Black Forest valley neither of them knew, and gave it four years. Little was added and a lot was uncovered: the timber frame, the stone, walls finished in local clay. SR Studio (former Studio Riebenbauer) handled the interiors and both kitchens.

The Barn is the social space: a raw-steel kitchen, a four-meter oak table, and two bedrooms set into the old gallery. It holds the music too, a piano and a Bang & Olufsen system, with an Eames lounge chair in the living space.

The Hayloft is quieter, its historic beams left exposed, with an open living space, a second kitchen, and a bathroom built around a deep tub. That Barn kitchen earned the house a place in Gaggenau’s Art of the Kitchen in 2024.

Outside, the house sits inside the Südschwarzwald nature park, with forest, meadow, and a stream, and hiking, cycling, and snowshoe routes that leave more or less from the door. There is no television (a projector comes out on request), which is either a problem or the entire point, depending on why you came.

Layout

This vacation home for rent in Wieden sleeps up to eight guests. The house divides into two independent units that can be booked separately or together. The Barn (120 m²) and the Hayloft (90 m²) each have their own entrance, kitchen, and bathroom, and each is open-plan, with combined living and dining rooms. Rent one unit for four, or both for eight.

The Barn

• Bedroom 1: Queen, gallery level

• Bedroom 2: Queen, gallery level

• One bathroom (shower, WC)

The Hayloft

• Bedroom 3: Queen

• Bedroom 4: Double

• One bathroom (bathtub, shower, WC)

Experiences

Offered by host on request (at additional cost): private chef, guided hikes, mountain-bike guides, grocery provisioning, and curated retreats and workshops run with structure, guest speakers, and catering.

Good to know

There is no cell phone reception and no television, though a projector comes out on request, and there is high-speed internet. Both units are open-plan, with some sleeping on gallery and upper levels. The house sits high on a mountain road, so winter visits need snow tires (required by law) and, in heavy snow, chains or a four-wheel drive.

Check-in is self-service by key safe, with a hosted orientation on request. A separate stone building on the grounds, the Ritual Room, is a communal space for workshops and gatherings rather than sleeping, and the whole property can be booked for events and retreats on request (other conditions apply).

Wieden charges a visitor’s tax (Kurtaxe) of about €2.10 to €2.60 per adult per night, collected on arrival. It includes a KONUS guest card for free public transport across the Black Forest.

Amenities & services

Two Gaggenau kitchens, piano, Bang & Olufsen sound system, high-speed fiber Wi-Fi, underfloor heating, wood-burning stoves (firewood supplied), washer and dryer, on-site parking, private grounds of forest and meadow with a stream and direct access to hiking, cycling, and snowshoe trails.

Available on request: private chef, guided hikes, mountain-bike guides, grocery provisioning, a film projector, and curated retreats, workshops, and events.

Around

Wieden sits in a high side-valley of the southern Black Forest, at the foot of the Belchen, one of the range’s tallest peaks and the reason the walking here is so good. The property is located at around 900 meters, high enough for a real mountain climate and long views down the valley. The Westweg, Germany’s oldest long-distance trail, passes close by on its way from Pforzheim to Basel, and in winter the same slopes turn to cross-country tracks and small ski lifts around Todtnau and the Feldberg. For dinner, the Wiedener Eck does an upscale take on regional cooking a few minutes up the road, and the Belchen-Multen, about 7km toward the mountain, serves game from local hunts and fresh Black Forest trout. Schönau is 9km down the valley for groceries and a bakery run. Freiburg, roughly 40 minutes north, brings a university city’s markets, wine bars, and Gothic minster, and both Basel and the French Alsace sit inside an easy day trip.