The "Chellhof" is one of the oldest houses in Benken. It was probably built between 1540 and 1580 (possibly after the great village fire of 1560). The name goes back to the seat of the lord of the manor, the "cellarius" of the monastery Rheinau , who had the task to collect the basic interest (at that time of course in form of natural goods) in favour of the monastery. The special character of the court is characterized by further - partly very old - timber-framed buildings.
We were able to take over our part of the house in September 1982 and have been renovating it ever since, always trying to preserve the charm of the old house without restricting the functionality and modern demands too much.
This included the extension of the former "Trotte" part (Trotte = large, old wine press). In the lower part there now is a garage and a small workshop , above this a hobby carpenter's workshop and under the roof two generous rooms for our children. Since summer 2011, the former children's rooms have been made available to our B&B guests as room "Gentlemen" and room "Ladies".
A little later we furnished the room in the mezzanine, the room "Hats", to serve, if necessary, as foot care and massage room as well as a guest room.
At the beginning of 2022, the corridor and staircase were renovate. The hidden timberwork was made visible and a new, more comfortable stair was installed.
In autumn 2022, the oil heating was shut down. Since then, the central heating system obtains its energy from the Benken heating network. The heat is produced from a central wood chip heating system with timber from the nearby surroundings in an almost CO2-neutral manner. . www.benken-zh.ch/verwaltung/versorgung/waermeverbund-benken.html/105
