No. 331
The house from Ostermundigen is historically interesting in two senses: first because it is a remarkable building in itself and second, because it was one of the first houses to be moved to Ballenberg.

The history leading up to the construction of this large farmhouse from Ostermundigen is described on an inscription above the door to the threshing floor: «A great fire was the cause of this house being built here. A house that had stood here for well over two hundred years was reduced to ashes on the third of April 1797». The owner responsible for its construction, the inscription continues, was the «Trüllmeister» (drill officer) and Captain-Lieutenant Bendicht Gosteli. The house itself owes its magnificent appearance to the builder Niklaus Althaus of Vechigen BE.
Despite its late date of construction, this farmhouse is still entirely Baroque in its appearance. Through its grey-painted facade, this wooden structure sets out, quite simply, to imitate the elegant stone of a town house. But the prosperous-looking exterior deceives. The way the three parlours on the ground floor lead into each other follows the floor plan adopted in Baroque country manors. It is an arrangement that gives the impression of dignified prosperity but it must have been rather impractical in daily use. The bedrooms on the upper floor are arranged according to the same plan and provide the only access to the hidden back rooms located above the kitchen. The kitchen also served as the main passage in the house.

Even rich farmers did not always live and work in a practical manner. Tradition and the desire for prestige often got in the way of a rational utilisation of space. The planning of the Ostermundigen house was also determined more by the desire to create an impression than by rational considerations.

The arrangement of the work areas of the building is characteristic of a farmhouse in the Bernese Midland in the late 18th century. Hay and cereals were brought in via an elaborate stone ramp. Near the living quarters and directly adjoining the larder is the horse stable. Other than at harvest time, the clay threshing floor built at ground level also served as a cart shed. The cowshed is at the very back of the house.
The construction of the house gives it an extremely elegant appearance and, particularly with regard to the width of the canopies, it goes somewhat beyond the limits of structural soundness. Yet the roof, although admittedly reinforced by auxiliary supports, has stood up to the considerably greater snow burdens of its new location. Many similar buildings can be seen around Berne, al-though few of them are now used for agricultural purposes.

Paint instead of sandstone
Ostermundigen has been known for its sandstone quarries for many hundreds of years. It was therefore only natural for the rich farmer Bendicht Gosteli to use this costly material in building his house. But only the cellar vaulting, the rear part of the ground floor and the entrance ramp are built with stone blocks. The ornate main facade, with its grey paintwork, is only an imitation of this noble material. Peasant architecture around 1800 attached little importance to the use of genuine materials. What counted was the overall impression. The building had to be as large, colourful and elegant as possible. Since, for technical reasons, the facade, proportioned according to artistic considerations, could not be built in sandstone, the shapes and profiles of stone jamb posts were imitated in paint on the wood.