Felix Roßbach planned and built his sustainable wooden house in Daaden himself. After a long period in Australia, the 34-year-old returned to the Westerwald and realized his dream of building his own mini house.

"Low budget" should be Felix building project, in no case he wanted to go into debt: "The more you can do yourself, the cheaper it will be in the end." He himself is an architect, and from his youth he knows a carpenter, a roofer, a mason and a stove builder - and they all helped with the house construction. "That was important to me, that when I'm old, I can say: I did this with the people from around here."

Around 20,000 euros for the land, 80,000 euros in material costs, a year of his own working time and many helping hands went into the 65 square meters. He designed the black wooden house in a weekend house area on the outskirts of his hometown together with his student friend Marius. The design is open, modern and with large windows. The house is meant to blend in with nature. Basically, he dug three steps into the hillside and then poured the concrete floor with his buddies.

Tiny living with few frills, but including a mini-sauna: "I wanted my house to have the same comforts as a big house, just everything a bit more compact, but still stylish and modern," says Felix. He likes minimalism and he doesn't need many things to be happy. "It starts with a chair. I'd rather have one good one that will then last 20 years than seven chairs," Felix explains. In that respect, less is more for him. Especially important to him are pieces that have meaning, like the motorcycle he brought back from Australia or the small black steel table in the living room, a gift from a good friend who designed and made the piece himself.

A few pieces of furniture have also moved into the house with his girlfriend Luisa. As a couple, needs change, and it's good that the open floor plan allows for many variations. The marketing specialist and trained photographer and the architect love beautiful things and the exchange about furnishing and design.

Sustainability is also important to the couple: The house's water supply is fed by rainwater, which is collected from the roof via the gutters in an underground water tank. If it doesn't rain for a while, they sometimes have to skip washing their hair. They also consume very little electricity. The idea is to live as self-sufficiently as possible.
Felix also reckoned with nature, or more precisely with the trees, when planning the house. The cabin was originally surrounded by tall spruce trees that prevented direct sunlight. Since the bark beetle destroyed the spruces around the house, it gets very hot inside the wooden house in the summer. With 80 newly planted birch trees, Felix and Luisa wanted to defy the sun and the heat in the future. Unfortunately, they have since discovered that they are allergic to birch pollen.

Felix gained a lot of experience during the construction of the house and its practical use. He and Luisa have many exciting ideas and a desire to realize more living ideas in the future.

A film by Tina Bonin (editing), Frederik Dietz (camera), Yannick Gaul (sound), Marcella Krings (editing), Andreas Bender (drone images from the construction phase).

00:00 Tiny Living in the self-built house
00:25 Entrance and living area
04:19 Kitchen
06:09 Bathroom
07:49 Wellness area
08:48 Covered terrace
10:02 Wood sealing
12:27 Reading corner
12:54 Bedroom
13:22 Guest/children room