Chesa Larsch
Chesa Larsch
+41 81 000 47 11
Chesa Larsch at dusk, a larch and granite house alone in deep snow with lit windows and smoke rising from the chimney
Chesa Larsch on a summer evening, the house alone among green meadows and larch forest under granite peaks

Snow outsideMeadows outsideFire inside

Ten rooms of larch and stone at the end of the Val Bever road, 1,820 m up in the Swiss Engadin. The hearth is lit at seven every morning from December to Easter.Summer nights at this height are cool, so the hearth is lit in July too.

  • 10 rooms
  • 1,820 m above the sea
  • Half board from CHF 420 for two

A hay barnfrom 1904

The Tönett family built the barn in 1904 to hold hay for eleven cows. It stood empty for forty years, until Ursina Tönett and her brother Men took it apart board by board in 2017.

The old beams went back in. The new walls are larch felled two kilometres up the valley, and the bedrooms are lined in stone pine, which keeps its resin smell for years and which, people in the Engadin will tell you, slows your heart a little in the night.

Downstairs is one long room with a granite hearth you can almost stand in, a table for twenty-two and a shelf of books that guests leave behind. Upstairs are ten bedrooms. That is the whole house.

Hands in a grey wool jumper placing a split larch log on the embers of a granite hearth
Larch from the valley, split behind the house
A wide granite hearth with a log fire, two low armchairs with charcoal wool blankets and a copper kettle
The hearth, lit at seven
The snow-covered road into Val Bever between larch trees, with a red train crossing a stone viaduct in the distance
The gravel road into Val Bever beside a mountain stream, with a red train crossing a stone viaduct in the distance

The road endsat our door

Bever is 3.5 km down the valley. Past the house the road turns into a track, and the track into a path that climbs to the Jenatsch hut. Leave the car in Bever and we drive you up, or walk the last stretch on the old cart road beside the Beverin, which takes about an hour with a suitcase on wheels and a little less without one.

  1. Bever station8 minWe meet every train you tell us about
  2. St. Moritz20 minRhaetian Railway from Bever, twice an hour
  3. Corviglia ski lifts15 minBy car to the Marguns gondola in Celerina
  4. Engadin Airport, Samedan12 minFor light aircraft and helicopters
  5. Zurich Airport3 h 20By train, changing in Chur
  6. Milan Malpensa3 h 30By car over the Maloja Pass

Ten roomsin three sizes

Every room has a window onto the forest and a wool blanket woven in Zuoz, and the beds are 210 cm long. Rates are per night for two, with breakfast and dinner.

A small bedroom panelled in pale stone pine with a low bed, a charcoal wool blanket and a deep window seat looking onto snowy larch forest

Stüva rooms

Six rooms18 m²Sleeps two

Lined floor to ceiling in stone pine, with a window seat deep enough to read in. The Stüva is the old Engadin parlour, and these rooms keep its size.

CHF 420 a night for two

Larch corner rooms

Three rooms26 m²Sleeps two, plus a child

These rooms sit on the corners of the house, with one window onto the peaks and one onto the forest. There is a daybed under each window, and the larch floor is warm underfoot.

CHF 640 a night for two

An attic suite under larch beams with a hammered copper bathtub beside a low window onto snowy peaks and a small iron stove

The roof suite

One room44 m²Sleeps three

Under the ridge beam, with a copper bath set beside a low window and its own iron stove. Men brings up the firewood at five.

CHF 1,100 a night for two

The trail startsThe path startsat the door

Breakfast runs until 10:30, so the morning is yours. Here is how a winter day can go, from first light to the sauna.Here is how a summer day can go, from first light to the sauna.

A ski tourer seen from behind climbing a skin track between larch trees toward a granite ridge
A wooden jetty on a dark green forest lake with a towel and hiking boots, a swimmer far out in the water
A small larch-log sauna hut steaming at dusk at the edge of the forest beside a frozen stream
The larch-log sauna hut with a lit window beside a mountain stream, the house behind it among meadows and larches

  1. Ski touring

    Skins go on at the front door. On Tuesdays and Fridays Men leads a tour up the valley, and we lend skis and skins.

  2. Cross-country

    The groomed trail follows the Beverin 7 km down to Spinas and back again.

  3. Sledging

    Take the train through the Albula tunnel to Preda and sledge the 6 km road down to Bergün. We pack your lunch.

  4. Sauna

    The wood-fired sauna is lit at four. The stream beside it is your cold plunge.

  1. Hiking

    Four hours up the valley to the Jenatsch hut at 2,652 m. Lunch at the hut, and back in time for the sauna.

  2. Alpine meadows

    From late June the slopes behind the house turn yellow and blue. Ursina knows most of the flowers by name.

  3. Lake swimming

    Lej da Staz is a forest lake at 1,808 m, 25 minutes away. By August the water reaches about 18 °C.

  4. Sauna

    The wood-fired sauna is lit at four. In July the stream is still cold enough to make you gasp.

A long larch table set with stoneware, linen and beeswax candles, the fire glowing at the far end of the room

One tableat half past seven

Dinner is at 19:30. Men cooks five courses from what the valley and the Bergell send up, and everyone eats at one long larch table, so you sit beside whoever came down the stairs before you and usually leave knowing where they walked that day.

The wine is from Graubünden and the Valtellina, poured by the glass. Tell us what you do not eat when you book, and Men cooks around it.

Braised venison with root vegetables and juniper sauce on a dark stoneware plate beside rye bread and a copper pot

A Thursday in February

  1. 1Barley soupSmoked pork, celeriac and chives, the way Men's grandmother made it
  2. 2CapunsChard leaves rolled around spätzli dough, mountain cheese, brown butter
  3. 3Arctic charFrom Lej da Segl, cured in salt and stone pine, with rye crisps
  4. 4VenisonFrom the autumn hunt, braised for six hours with juniper and roots
  5. 5NusstorteEngadin walnut tart with stone pine ice cream

Five courses are part of every rate. Guests from outside the house can join on Fridays and Saturdays for CHF 95.

Chooseyour nights

The house is open from mid-December to Easter and from mid-June to mid-October. Ursina answers every request herself within twelve hours.

Per night for two guests, breakfast and dinner included
RoomSizeRate
Stüva room six rooms18 m²CHF 420
Larch corner room three rooms26 m²CHF 640
Roof suite one room44 m²CHF 1,100
  • Two nights at least, and three over Christmas and New Year
  • Arrive from 15:00, leave by 11:00, and stay for lunch if you like
  • When you book here, the station pick-up and the sauna are part of the rate
  • A third guest in the suite or a child in a corner room adds CHF 90
Ursina Tönett in the open larch door with an armful of split logs, looking out at the snowy valley

Ursina answersthe phone

Ask her how much snow fell last night, or whether the suite is free on your anniversary. She grew up in Bever. Every September she still walks up to the Jenatsch hut and back in a day.

The phone is answered from 08:00 to 20:00, Swiss time.

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Check dates

Room
2 nights × CHF 420 = CHF 840

Half board, the station pick-up and the sauna are included. Two nights at least.