Concierge: New opening / Valais
Rising again
Once a busy crossroad of Mitteleuropean trade, the small town of Ernen in the Valais mountains is now a peaceful place to unwind. The newly opened Michelhaus hotel in a renovated chalet from 1686 is the ideal place from which to explore the area’s charms.
Anyone seeking an authentically Helvetic home for the holidays this winter should consider swapping the grand hotels of Gstaad, Verbier and Zermatt for something less well-known. Set in the 800-year-old mountain town of Ernen in the canton of Valais, Michelhaus is a new property from Reto Holzer. The Zürich hair salon-owner purchased the three-storey building for himself in 2020 before opening it up to holidaymakers.
The chalet from 1686 was in dire need of renovation when Holzer bought it. Working with Valais architects and carpenters, he saved the original floors and the stone hearth that still boasts the coat of arms of the family who built the place. “The architects here are used to the complexities of renovating old chalets,” Holzer tells Monocle as he crosses the 350-year-old floorboards in a quilted Moncler jacket, his chocolate-brown poodle, Maxime, at his heels.
Once the bones of the building were safe, Holzer split the house into two apartments that can each sleep up to five people in plush Hästens beds. Antique milking stools, cowbells and paintings from brocantes contribute to the old-world decor, while Holzer also furnished the house with modern pieces including Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona daybed and Stella McCartney’s take on Mario Bellini’s Le Bambole sofa for B&B Italia. “This is a place for people looking for something rustic and cosy,” he says, opening the doors to the balcony. “I like the mix between old and new.” From our perch, we hear the tinkling bells of cows grazing in the field as Holzer points out the Finsteraarhorn, the highest peak of the Bernese Alps. “I like to come here because it’s quiet; life is slower.”
Ernen, a town of 550 people, is something of a time capsule. Until the Napoleonic era, this grassy patch of the Alps – less than a three-hour drive from Zürich and Geneva – was an important crossroad in the Mitteleuropean trade route. But the town’s importance waned when the Simplon and Grand St Bernard passes were built, improving cross-mountain travel.
Case in point: the unappetisingly named local dish of cholera. As we gather around the table for lunch, Holzer brings out the pie, filled with apple, potato, onion and raclette cheese — a hotchpotch of the limited resources that locals could access throughout the winters. Joining Monocle is the mayor, Francesco Walter – it’s a small town, remember – who has spearheaded Ernen’s music festival since 1998. “I have a passion for culture and saw the festival as an opportunity for tourism,” says Walter. “When I joined, it consisted of six concerts taking place over two weeks. Now we host more than 50 events a year.”
As a bottle of Swiss white is uncorked, conversation flows. Hunkered in Holzer’s chalet, the calm that might elude you in Gstaad, Verbier or Zermatt is as hard to ignore as the Alps out the window. — michelhaus.ch
Holzer’s Ernen guide
1.
Hike the 4.8 km-long Twingischlucht trail in through the Binntal valley.
2.
Ski down from the Eggishorn in the Aletsch Arena, a large area for skiing and snowboarding in the Fiesch valley.
3.
Admire the earliest known depiction of Switzerland’s legendary archer, William Tell, painted on the side of the Ernen Tellenhaus.
4.
Sample the local cheese, the Binner Alpkäse, at Ernen’s organic food shop, St Georg.
5.
Learn about local history in the town’s Jost-Sigristen museum and the Tellenhaus.
