House from Radheim (show home)

Dismantled: 1979
Reassembled at the museum: 2018/2019
Show home with permanent exhibition: 2023

The House from Radheim was put into storage at Hessenpark in 1979. After reconstruction, the box frame building from southern Hesse presents itself as a show home. The stored timbers were in poor condition, requiriring extensive modifications and repairs. After six months of repairs and three weeks of straightening the timber frame, the topping out ceremony could finally be celebrated in September 2018. The show home, along with an exhibition, and was opened in spring 2023. In 2024, the garden of building components was added.

The show home aims to inspire interest in living in timber-framed houses and to showcase the potential that lies in timber-framebuidlings and accommodation in need of repair. There are about 2.4 million half-timbered houses in Germany that shape our towns and cultural landscapes, and they need to be sustainably preserved. The house from Radheim demonstrates exemplary solutions for achieving contemporary energy-efficient living in historic timber-framearchitecture by means of renewable building materials.

On display are various cost-conscious and professional renovation methods for historic half-timbered houses.. These include selected solutions for appropriate material choices in insulation and examples of repairs. Structural elements are left open to reveal how walls, ceilings and floors are constructed along with thelayering of insulation materials. Another focusis building technology. All implemented solutions are analysed from a construction physics perspective and the results presented. The show home serves as a place to address questions regarding timber-frame renovation and energy efficiency, featuringa permanent exhibition, seminars and lectures for interested visitors and professiols alike.

In the garden of building components, half-timbering-compatible concepts for sustainable energy use are presented, including a heat pump, solar modules for on-roofand in-roof installation, solar roof tiles, geothermal collectors, and energy fences. Inside the house, furnished rooms such as the kitchen, living room, master bedroom, youth room, and conservatory demonstrate how to create a cozy atmosphere with different budgets.

The show home is part of the “Centre of Expertise for Climate Protection in Timber-Framed Towns” project led by the Consortium of German Timber-Framed Towns. The project aims to increase the currently low rate of energy focused renovations of half-timbered buildings in Germany and to modernise timber-framed towns overall.