Photographer: Ralph Feiner
Photographer: Ralph Feiner
In the remote hamlet of Leis, just 1500 m above sea level, in the community of Vals Annalisa and Peter Zumthor built three timber cabins: the Oberhus, the Unterhus and the Türmlihus. The Oberhus is private, the Unterhus and the Türmlihus are used as vacation residences.
Leis, which is situated 1,526 m above sea level, is the highest settlement occupied all year round inthe community of Vals. The people of Vals originally spoke Romansh. In the late Middle AgesGerman speaking Walsers settled in this area and cleared the trees from the mountainside terracessometime around 1300, having presumably found their way here via the Misox. In Mesocco, a small municipality in the Misox, there is a neighborhood called Leis.
A Rhætian register of debtors from 1325 tells that there used to be two mayors in Vals: one Johannes de Valle and one Wilhelm Lampert de Leisa. At that time part of the population still spoke Rhaeto-Romanic and they mostly lived, like mayor Johannes, down in the valley near the church in the square. The Leis Chapel, built in the early seventeenth century, is dedicated to Saint James the Greater, patron saint of travelers and walkers
Today Leis has around 20 inhabitants. There is an inn, and two families tend the mountain meadows. There is year-round access to Leis by road.
The two detached vacation homes are exquisitely furnished and are at the exclusive disposal for guests. In winter, the ski piste from Gadastatt down the valley runs right past Leis and our cottages. From early summer well into the fall, the vacation homes are the starting point for numerous wonderful hikes. And all year round the cabins are a beautiful hideout amidst mountains, nature and blue sky.
Source: https://zumthorferienhaeuser.ch/en
Architects:
Peter Zumthor Haldenstein