Set back from the street, at the end of a private no-through road, the dwelling, nestled under the foliage of a grove of multi-century trees, is located in the heart of Bergheim’s medieval urban fabric. Once past the gate, the two-storey dwelling’s main façade, looking out towards the garden and bordered to the south by 14th-century ramparts, features seven vertical rows of windows and pink Vosges sandstone window/door surrounds. Built over a basement level, it is topped with a “beaver-tail” tile hipped roof punctuated by dormers with oval windows.

The Dwelling

Facing east towards the garden and once called “Villa Sans-Soucis” (“The Happy-Go-Lucky Villa”), the Lechten dwelling, named after the Strasbourg family who used it as a holiday home up until 1938, was then sold to a family of Bergheim winemakers.

The ground floor
The dwelling’s Louis XVI-style, oak double-door entrance is accessible from either a central set of front stone steps, whose slender cast-iron columns support a porch roof, or a flight of sandstone steps on either side, which are safeguarded by a wrought-iron and cast-iron guardrail and provide a stately touch to the ground floor’s exterior. As for the dual-aspect entrance hall, it includes the original oak staircase, adorned with understated ornamental details, whereas the ancient pine and oak-plank floors have been preserved in the suite of main rooms facing the garden. With double doors in a late Louis XV style providing access to all the main rooms, from the entrance hall, on the right, a former flat includes two large living areas, a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, as well as an antechamber, which is separated from the room that precedes it by a partition cadenced with large glazed latticework doors from the 1840s. On the left, a more modest-sized flat, in need of a renovation, includes a living room facing southeast, a bedroom and a kitchen, while all of the rooms facing east and south are bathed in abundant natural light thanks to immense, large-paned, wood-framed windows.
The upstairs
At the top of the oak staircase, the landing provides access, like on the ground floor, to two flats. The larger one includes a suite of three living areas, two bedrooms facing west, as well as a kitchen and a bathroom, while, to the south, the smaller flat, in need of a renovation, is made up of a living room facing southeast, a bedroom and a kitchen.
The attic
Accessible from a staircase located at the back of the upstairs hallway, this level has preserved its original wooden rafters and is preceded by two small garret rooms.
The basement
With outdoor access, this completely open space, with a sandstone tile floor, extends underneath the entire dwelling and once was used to store wine barrels.