Building a single-family home in Upper Bavaria near the Isar River demands thoughtful engagement with the region's traditional country house aesthetic. Munich architects Goldstein rose to this challenge by marrying time-honored forms with contemporary design on a property in Icking, just south of Munich. The clients—a young family with three small children—envisioned a modern take on the local vernacular, retaining the characteristic shallow pitched roof but reimagining the small, light-restrictive windows of traditional design. Instead, the south and east facades open to a stunning 14-meter floor-to-ceiling glass wall with sliding doors, flooding the interior with daylight and connecting seamlessly to the terrace and garden beyond. The ground floor embraces open-plan living: an expansive 80 m² space combines kitchen, dining, and living functions, anchored by a centrally positioned fireplace and finished in soft grey natural stone. The entrance and staircase to the upper level provide the only spatial division on the west side. A gently curving granite path ascends from the modest garage structure across the undulating terrain to the house entrance. Boulders discovered during excavation have been thoughtfully repositioned throughout the garden landscape. The homeowner, an accomplished gardener, has cultivated both ornamental borders and productive vegetable beds in carefully chosen locations. Inside, a single run of oak stairs ascends to three children's bedrooms with shared bath, plus a generously proportioned master suite with eastern exposure and private balcony. Upper floor rooms feature hand-planed oak flooring and soar toward the roof line—reaching up to four metres—with integrated roof windows that flood the space with light and amplify the sense of openness. A covered south-facing balcony with glass railings spans the street-facing facade. Strategic roof overhangs and balconies provide summer protection from solar gain while allowing low winter sun to warm the interior through extensive glazing. The result is an inviting country home suffused with light and flowing space—a seamless dialogue between heritage and modernity that eschews artifice in favor of genuine integration with its landscape.

www.goldstein-architekten.de

Photography Credits:

Goldstein

(Published in CUBE Munich 04|23)