Zur Alten Dame holiday home

Zur Alten Dame is a completely refurbished, listed house from the eighteenth–nineteenth century, in the historical heart of Lipburg. Here you can experience with your family, friends or colleagues an oasis of comfort in an authentic village atmosphere.

The interior is furnished with a mix of classic and modern furniture. The open kitchen is on the ground floor along with a tiled stove, and a long dining table  – all you need for cosy get-togethers after a day’s activities. The kitchen is very well equipped and you can spoil your family and friends with delicious home-cooked meals. Double glass doors lead directly from the kitchen into the garden, where you can breakfast, grill or chill - as you please.

On the first floor there are two double bedrooms. The smaller of the two double bedrooms is furnished with a double bed, natural stone wall and access to the southwest facing balcony. The larger bedroom has two single beds. On this floor is a large bathroom (9 qm) with rain shower. The homely, open-plan attic floor sleeps up to four more people in two separate rooms (3 bed and single bed) with retro-style bath, separate WC, television and sunscreen blinds. The house has a total of three WCs and a balcony.

The organic building materials used and the environmentally friendly electricity supply ensure your personal peace, wellbeing and are suitable for allergy sufferers. All in all a help for your personal well-being. There is also wifi – which you can unplug if you wish.  

History of the House

Earlier Times

Your holiday home is a locally and historically significant building in Lipburg, a rural district of Badenweiler. Listed since 1983, it stands in a prominent location by the village fountain, on what amounts to a square created by the convergence of two roads. It is unmistakably the most important building in the village. With its fresh, pale mint-coloured shutters and its old, cracked and mottled plasterwork from the 1920s, the house is reminiscent of the face of a smart, elderly lady who is self-confident and wears her years well and with pride.

Within sight of the house is the clock tower, the Lipburger Türmle (‘Lipburg’s Little Tower’), which was built around the same time as the original house and still houses its 1692 bell. The clock tower was a symbol of power at the time, which points to both the high social rank of the original house builders and its function. Research into the building’s architectural history provides evidence that the house had a public function – probably the seat of the steward. On the ground floor, on the fountain side, the building had a porch where laws were enacted in the open, as was the custom in those times. The porch may have remained in use until the house was rebuilt in 1818. Wine was stored in a vaulted cellar behind the porch, and on the ground floor there was a drinking room and a kitchen. On the upper floor there was a sitting room with fireplace and on the attic floor there was another room and a dovecote. In what is now a green space to the south and west of the house there were large barns and commercial buildings, in which taxes  (tithes) were probably stored. At the end of the eighteenth century the house burnt down and was rebuilt soon after. Dendrochronological results (wood dating) give a date of 1798 for the wooden beams in the roof space. The 1801 date over the main entrance, together with the initials HB and SR (which have not been identified to date), point to the building having been repurposed and simultaneously reconfigured after the fire. This phase is also reflected in the 1818 date over the entrance on the fountain side of the building. The commercial buildings disappeared over time and all that was left was the core building of the group. This together with the Türmle constitute the emblem of Lipburg. The village fountain, immediately in front of Zur alten Dame, lends a particular charm to the remains of this old ensemble of buildings.  

Today

The house was completely refurbished in 2017–18 and has been available as a holiday home for individual travellers (maximum eight people) since Christmas 2018. Couples, friends, families with children – all are welcome. The house offers accommodation over an area of 164 sq. m – a large dining/sitting room with a long table and an historical tiled stove, open-plan kitchen and separate WC on the ground floor; two bedrooms and a large bathroom with WC and rain shower on the first floor; and room to sleep four further people in the ‘dovecote’ on the attic floor, which has a bathroom and separate WC.  The furnishing of the house is especially characterful, with its mixture of classic and modern furniture, pictures, and decorative objects. On the southwest-facing balcony on summer evenings you can enjoy a glass of wine, watch the village going about its business at the end of the working day, and at the same time enjoy the views over the vineyards and orchards.

Regional wine can be bought from the well-stocked wine cellar and will help you put the world to rights late into the night. On your arrival you will find a good bio-olive oil and other basic foodstuffs. 

For the refurbishment of the house, the materials used (such as wood, clay plaster) were all natural; the electricity cables are screened to help prevent electrosmog. There is television and wifi, though the latter can be turned off if you wish, as an extra measure to prevent electrosmog. The good insulation and new windows make the house an oasis of peace in the middle of the village.

The aim of the refurbishment was to retain the house’s historical external appearance, while making  the interior cosy, snug and comfortable, but sufficiently connected to the outside world technologically so that it will be a pleasure to spend time in the house whatever the weather. 

As a special offer for our guests: you can hire a Vespa LX 125 for €50 per day. If you acquired your driving licence before 1980, you can drive the scooter without a motorcycle licence.

On request we can also organize

wine tastings

excursions in and around the Markgräflerland, Elsace, Sundgau and Switzerland to selected restaurants and vineyards

a trip with our Oldtimer Limousine (with driver)

The house is ideal for four to eight people.

Pets are unfortunately not allowed. The house is allergy-friendly.