At Dinesen’s Quaint Country Guesthouse, Wood Takes Center Stage

The fifth-generation Dinesen scion sought a vanguard studio that would respect the building’s existing framework while bringing it up to speed with contemporary sensibilities, so he selected young compatriot firm Mentze Ottenstein. “We’ve followed them for a long time and have been captivated by their work,” Dinesen recalls, pointing to the duo’s mindful revamp of Marienborg, the 18th-century manor house and official residence of Denmark’s prime minister, as making a particularly strong impression. Much like how that intervention deftly mixed classic furnishings with newly commissioned pieces by a medley of Danish artists and designers, firm founders Mathias Mentze and Alexander Ottenstein played off Dinesen’s proclivity for pared-down elegance while introducing welcome elements of surprise throughout. What ensued is a live-in showroom and elegant guesthouse for friends, clients, and relatives to visit the company’s nearby headquarters and enjoy the breathtaking scenery of southern Denmark.

For Mentze Ottenstein, that meant making multiple visits to the house, undertaking intense research of all surfaces and materials, and immersing themselves in the town’s rich design heritage. “It was important for us to create a place with a sense of home to it,” the architects told Galerie, striving for the warm, lived-in feeling where layers of objects and furniture from disparate times, styles, and locales coexist harmoniously. “By including furniture from the region and drawing inspiration from local traditions, we wanted to create an environment fit for today, acknowledging the passing of time, and hopefully making it ready for the future.” 

Period features such as alcove beds not only doubled the guesthouse’s sleeping capacity to eight, but underscored what the architects call a “rewilding” of the home’s minimalism. To that end, the spacious Garde Hvalsøe kitchen was painted a soothing shade of green in a nod to its bucolic surrounds; the bedroom’s hand-printed wallpaper depicts leaves plucked from the 150-acre estate. (Mentze Ottenstein developed the pattern while teaching a summer session hosted by Dinesen at the Royal Danish Academy of Architecture two years ago.) They also sourced decorative pieces by artists who share their sensibilities, from glass pendants by Danish artist Nina Nørgaard to a range of ceramic bowls and jars designed by Peter Møller Ramussen and Christian Vennerstrøm. Each sculptural vessel was hand-turned by Georgian carpenters, who also produced the kitchen’s wooden knobs and cabinet pulls. 

Wood fittingly takes center stage as the home’s primary material palette, spanning spruce board walls to more intricate carpenter-made oak furniture sourced from the region. The latter intermingles with antique finds and Dinesen’s own collaboration of clean-lined Douglas Fir furnishings by the award-winning architect John Pawson, who originally created them for his Notting Hill residence in 1992. He reissued the collection with modern-day updates at last year’s 3daysofdesign, when he transformed the brand’s pristine Copenhagen headquarters into an airy sanctuary. The full line—a dining table, bench, stool, lounge chair, sofa, and daybed—is on display in the guesthouse, reflecting both the serene allure of blond woods and the eye-catching contrast it commands when paired with earthier tones like walnut and burnt umber.

The end result feels light years away from a traditional showroom and rather a charming countryside inn ready to absorb the patina, stories, and character of passersby. “A space is like a portrait of the person or the people who inhabit it,” Mentze Ottenstein tell Galerie. “We’ve drawn a portrait of where Dinesen is today through choices and approaches that allow for change.” That picture will become vividly illustrated with time. While only the company’s friends and guests can visit the guesthouse for now, it will eventually open for public stays and events like symposiums and architectural workshops. “We hope to come back and see the library has been filled with books, cabinets are full of textiles, and furniture pieces from and by friends and partners of Dinesen are included and speak to each other in a unified experience.” 

Below, see more images of the guesthouse.