Ingrid has had to make do with little money all her life. Her small house is nevertheless full of unusual treasures that she has collected and found in a variety of ways.
High above the Lahn, in the village of Winden in the Westerwald, close to the church wall stands a small house - behind it an even smaller house directly under the church, built on a former tithe cellar. This is where 81-year-old Ingrid Hustädte lives. Ingrid has had an eventful life. She loves art and flea markets - her house is full of still lifes, built from found objects she has picked up in the forest, on fields and meadows, while diving in the sea, in old hotels or at flea markets. In the process, she has created a small realm in which countless objects are gathered together as if in a hidden object picture: Furniture from different eras and original paintings by the artist Rudolf Kaster, who died in 2003. Ingrid worked with the artist for many years and was involved in the craftsmanship of many of his works - the two remained close friends until Kaster's death.
The house was built in the 1930s by the Reich Labor Service as an equipment storage facility. Due to the rocky subsoil, the walls, ceilings and roof are somewhat crooked - which gives the house a special charm. When Ingrid was looking for a house in the country with her husband and their then five-year-old son in the early 1970s, they discovered the house on the church wall. What they all particularly liked was that the house, with its front garden and large orchard, had sun almost all day. It was an ideal place for the family: they had more space than in the city, their son could cure his chronic bronchitis here in the mountain air, Ingrid's husband planted a vegetable garden and tended the orchard.
Ingrid now lives alone - her husband has died and her son has long since left home. But the widow likes to receive guests. In the house, she is always changing the furniture and furnishings and rearranging them - like a scene change in the theater. And she is always finding new items for her unique, tastefully arranged smorgasbord on the shelves and furniture.
Ingrid has set up her studio in the 300-year-old cottage above the rock cellar, which is also part of the property. Over the years, she decorated the rooms with her found objects, got hold of discarded furniture from hotels in Bad Ems, restored it, and thus created an individual living space that resembles a theater or movie set. Around 40 mirrors hang on the walls - you always have the perspective from across the room.
At least as many paintings by Rudolf Kaster hang on the walls - others are in the tidy attic. Sometimes she exchanges one painting for another. You could call Ingrid a pioneer of upcycling: Almost all the furnishings are second hand. Ingrid has purchased any number of old hotel chairs from nearby, once fashionable Bad Ems, sofas, tables, deck chairs and other pieces of furniture cheaply and then painstakingly restored them. She often had to remove several layers of paint, carefully clean the wood with intricate carvings, sand and polish it, and cover the furniture with new slipcovers.
Despite the abundance of objects and furniture, she manages to maintain her own order and create an individual living atmosphere. "Magic house" is what Ingrid's niece Leonore calls her aunt's domicile - and she means exactly this special atmosphere that could be the backdrop for a movie or a fairy tale. Leonore says of Ingrid and her house: "It's FULL in there. The rest of us can all just EMPTY it to make it look nice. She can be FULL and still beautiful, still structured, still tidy." Ingrid's house of found things is in many ways a total work of art - and the inhabitant a true artist of life.
A film by Uli Paulus (editor), Frederik Dietz (camera), Paul Heydecke (sound) and Roland Roßner (editing).
00:00 Ingrid's "Magic House
00:30 Living room
03:00 Salon
04:34 Terrace
05:42 Blue parlor & balcony
06:17 Kitchen
07:54 Wine cellar
08:52 Workshop
10:20 Garden