Alpine Chalet

Alpine interiors center on the Stube: a low, wood-lined living room heated by a tiled stove that was usually fired from outside the room, so the space stayed warm and free of smoke. From medieval farmhouses to Renaissance castles in Tyrol and Switzerland, the Stube was paneled in pine, larch, Swiss stone pine or walnut, sometimes left plain and sometimes carved, inlaid or painted.

The room was organized around fixed furniture. Benches ran along the walls and met in a corner, where the family table stood, and in Catholic regions a crucifix hung above it in the corner known as the Herrgottswinkel. Ceilings were boarded or coffered, doors were heavy plank or paneled constructions, and cupboards were often built into the paneling.

Decoration followed the means of the household. Farmhouses used chip carving, cut-out motifs and painted flowers on cupboards and beds; wealthier houses and town halls commissioned carved friezes, arched panels and inlay. The documented rooms in this library, many preserved in folk-life museums in Innsbruck, Dietenheim (South Tyrol) and Stein (Appenzell), show that range.

Its appeal today is warmth. Board paneling, a built-in corner bench, chip-carved details and painted cupboard doors all carry over directly to mountain houses and dining nooks elsewhere. Modern chalet style is a looser idea, often mixing rustic timber with contemporary finishes; the entries here record the historical rooms it draws on.