A tragic accident made Fabienne a homeowner at the age of 18. Today, she lives with her husband and three children in the listed half-timbered house that her dad actually bought: a former post office dating from 1757. Fabienne's dad was a carpenter and in 2009 he fulfilled his dream of owning a half-timbered house in the historic town center of Lachen-Speyerdorf, a district of Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Because Fabienne was an absolute "daddy's girl," she decided to move into the old house with her father after her parents separated. She still remembers the first time she had tears in her eyes when she saw the old courtyard - that's how bad the condition of the listed building was. The building used to be a post office, where the horses of the stagecoaches were watered and fed on long journeys. In addition to the main building, which probably once housed a restaurant for the coachmen, the farmstead also includes an old stable. Fabienne's father spent five years renovating the old house from the ground up. The pipes had to be taken out, and most of the floors had to be replaced. Only the first-floor hallway managed to retain a piece of the original plank flooring. "I had the ambition to make the floor shine," Fabienne says. And she also lent a hand herself during the renovation: In many sweaty hours of work, she scraped PVC glue off the old floorboards or sanded colorful varnish off the wooden stairs. The last thing Fabienne's father wanted to do was renew the roof of the old house - but that never happened: in 2014, he was killed in an accident at work. Fabienne was just 18 years old at the time. "For me, there was only one thing at that point: to keep the house, because it was my dad's life's work." But with this decision, a huge responsibility also weighed on the then 18-year-old: While her friends were out partying at wine festivals, she had to deal with government offices, insurance companies, banks and the household. The purchase price of the farmstead was 80,000 euros at the time because of its poor condition. Fabienne's father subsequently invested around 100,000 euros in the renovation, and Fabienne herself a similar sum. In addition, Fabienne did a lot of work on her own. In order to be able to finance the house, Fabienne looked for a part-time job in addition to her training. "To make matters worse, it was raining," Fabienne recalls. Although her father had broken through a roof while working and had an accident in the process, she was determined to cover the roof of her house herself. "I wasn't afraid to get on the roof either. On the contrary, it made me feel a little closer to my dad." Today, ten years later, Fabienne lives with her husband Christian, their three children and two dogs in the half-timbered house, which she now describes as her "life's work." "An old house like this is a bottomless pit, always needing to be renovated and touched up," Fabienne says. One challenge in the renovation is that the house is under the highest possible preservation order. As a result, there are strict conditions that require a lot of effort and, in some cases, high costs. Nevertheless, Fabienne is already in the starting blocks for the next building project: The former barn of the farmstead will be converted into a multigenerational house, into which Fabienne's mom and her aunt want to move. Because her dad was a well-connected and respected craftsman in the village, his former colleagues are always helping out with construction work to this day. Fabienne is happy to be living in the house with her family today. "I think the children feel insanely comfortable here. We have a yard, we have a garden. It's just a carefree family life." In the living room, the family's hub, hangs a large photo of Fabienne's dad. Through the house, she feels closely connected to him to this day. A film by Katharina Feißt (editor), Frederik Dietz (camera), Paul Heydecke (sound) and Monika Kostrzewa (editing). 00:00 Listed half-timbered house 00:25 Living room 03:07 Bedroom 03:40 Kitchen 05:13 Entrance hall 06:36 Children's floor 08:47 second floor 09:56 old stables On the YouTube channel of SWR Room Tour, people open the door to their unusual homes. On a very personal tour, they share details about the finishes, furnishings and architecture and talk about their philosophy of life. Subscribe to our channel to never miss an episode: null More SWR Room Tour: https://www.SWR.de/RoomTour Room Tour is also available in the ARD Mediathek: https://1.ard.de/roomtour Netiquette: https://www.swr.de/netiquette Imprint and privacy policy: https://www.swr.de/impressum #facility #renovation #RoomTour