Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Projekt Datscha by Anna and Jakob Busch

Projekt Datscha by Anna and Jakob Busch

Anna and Jakob Busch enlist the help of family and friends to build the 194-square-foot cabin, Datscha, in Austria.

When Anna and Jakob Busch met in Graz, Austria, almost five years ago, their connection was undeniable. Anna was traveling and so moving often, everything she owned fit in two backpacks ("It was easier that way," she says.) Jakob had a spartan approach to life, too. "He was born a minimalist," Anna attests. "He only buys stuff he needs and is reluctant to collect anything that’s unnecessary."

The adventurer and the minimalist fell madly in love, and together, they dreamed of building a tiny cabin: "We wanted something that suited our characters-something small and transportable," Anna says.



Datscha, the 194-square-foot cabin that Anna and Jakob Busch built with the help of family and friends, is clad with spruce siding and capped with a standing-seam metal roof.

In May 2019, the couple decided to turn their dream into reality. Anna, a manager at a creative agency, took three months of unpaid leave to focus on the build; Jakob, a medical practitioner, took a one-month break. They temporarily relocated to Krakow, Poland, where Anna grew up, and enlisted the help of loved ones.

"I studied industrial design, so I have a basic understanding of construction, but neither of us had much practical experience," says Anna.



The couple built the cabin in Poland and eventually moved it to near the shore of Packer Lake in Austria.

Anna’s friends, architects Monika Binkowska and Barbara and Andrzej Adamczyk, helped design the cabin, and her father was on site for the build. "He worked with us every day for three months," says Anna, who had assumed the project would take no longer than that. In fact, it took almost a year.

When the three-month deadline came and went, Anna and Jakob returned to their jobs. Every weekend for the next seven months, they drove 435 miles back to the site, completing the cabin in a total of 10 months for $35,000.



"The tiny home is parked in a forest, where there's an old stone quarry," Anna says. "The land belongs to our friend Andy, who suggested we build outdoor tables with some of the boulders."

Anna and Jakob named their tiny home Datscha. "It’s a post-Soviet word used to describe a holiday house, usually somewhere far away in the nature," Anna says. "It describes the essence of our cabin in one word."

The 194-square-foot cabin features a gray, standing-seam metal roof and is wrapped in pale spruce, which is both light and easily accessible. "Choosing lightweight materials was our number-one priority in order to keep the tiny house within the permitted weight of three to five tons," Anna explains. The couple painted the exterior a semitransparent shade of white to achieve the look of untreated wood.



Anna and Jakob chat on the ladder that accesses the sleeping loft. Made from cast iron piping and backed with botanical wallpaper, it was designed by Anna’s mother, Barbara, and built by family friend Wieslaw Siola.

Inside, floors are wood panels produced by Barlinek, a Polish company, and the ceiling is crafted from spruce. Plywood walls, with its pronounced natural grain, lend subtle pattern and interest.



Anna’s cousin, Marek, made the spruce sliding door that leads to the bathroom. To preserve floor space, a beechwood dining table built into the kitchen cabinetry folds down when it’s not in use.



Anna and Jakob prepare a meal on the live-edge beechwood counter that was also crafted by Anna’s cousin, Marek.

For the kitchen, Anna’s cousin, Marek, crafted a beechwood dining table that folds out from the cabinetry and a live-edge beechwood counter on the opposite side. "The counter is higher than usual," says Anna. "I lost a battle with Jakob, who is six-foot-two and promised he’d do the dishes if the counter was adjusted to his height. He lied!"

Anna installed open plywood shelves at one end of the counter and hung a 50-year-old plank she found in her grandmother’s house above for additional storage.



The living area is outfitted with a compact sofa, nesting coffee tables, and a green rug and drapery that reference the lush, wooded landscape.

A cast-iron ladder-designed by Anna’s mother, Barbara, and built by family friend Wieslaw Siola-leads up to the sleeping loft, which has an operable skylight. "Our favorite part of the cabin is the roof window," Anna says. "We can stargaze and feel the breeze without leaving our bed."



The sleeping loft features an operable skylight that affords views of treetops and the sky.



"There are lots of deer and fireflies, and the forest is full of mushrooms, berries, and needle-bearing trees," says Anna of the landscape. "We’re able to pick the mushrooms and berries and prepare meals with them. Somehow, they taste better than the ones in stores."

Before Anna and Jakob began building their tiny cabin, they studied similar projects and watched DIY videos online. "On Instagram, it looks like great fun," Anna says. "You invite your friends over, paint a little, and then you all grill together. It sounds silly, but this is true! We wouldn’t have been able to do this without the help of our family and friends."



The hatch-like roof window connects the cabin to the outdoors.

The couple will soon move the cabin to a mountainous area in central Austria, where they’ll offer it to others as a vacation rental. "Datscha allows us to be close to nature, giving us a sense of peace," Anna says. "We definitely need time to recharge away from people and civilization."



The Busches explore the wooded area that surrounds the cabin together. "We love hiking, climbing, and canoeing in nature," Anna says.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
EU Proposes Phasing Out Russian Oil and Gas by End of 2027 to End Energy Dependence
More Than 150,000 Followers for a Fictional Character: The New Influencers Are AI Creations
EU Prepares for War
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Druzhba Pipeline Incident Sparks Geopolitical Tensions
Cost of Opposition Leader Péter Magyar's Economic Plan Revealed
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
×