Baron Enno von Ruffin says about himself that he’s a ‘car-driving rambler’

“The baron is coming in a second”, says the friendly woman and pleases me to wait. And then he’s standing in front of me – in red cords, a for him typical cardigan, of course with a breast pocket handkerchief: Baron Enno von Ruffin falls down on his sofa in his salon. “There was a problem with the cables for the Christmas illumination”, he explains his delay whilst being a little bit out of breath. But everything is sorted now. Like always. Even after 2 a.m., when a hotel guest stands in front of his door – without a key. Then it’s Ennos mobile phone that rings.

Since 400 years, Gut Basthorst is the home for the Ruffin family

Since 35 years Enno von Ruffin is leading Gut Basthorst in Schleswig-Holstein, a 650 hectares big estate, which includes next to its agriculture a company for gardening and landscaping, as well as a hotel and gastronomy with its own Basthorst Bier. And since 400 years, Gut Basthorst is the home for the Ruffin family that originally comes from Bavaria and Meran in Tirol. This is where Enno was born. Where he was raised. He knows every corner, every tree, and every shrub. He went to the village school, pending between mornings and afternoons, because there was only one classroom. Afterwards Enno has been sent to boarding school. At this stage he was only ten years old. He couldn’t really cope with the rough world of boarding. Suddenly there were different rules. Rules, which didn’t include cigarettes, beer or girls – Enno was, as a lover of liberty, truly not a fan of these rules. “In fact I was an easy child”, says Enno and grins. “Others probably saw that differently”. So he changed the boarding schools in periodically intervals, “I have no idea how many.” His protest against the establishment, “but never against the family.”

The manor: in the former private rooms of the old Baroness – the mother of Enno von Ruffin – today the hotel resides

After school he went to Bavaria, was lieutenant for the mountain infantry, completed an agricultural apprenticeship earlier. And spent one year near Dallas, where he dealed with the American agriculture. It seemed to be fascinating and deterred at the same time. This anonymity. “There was no caregiver, nothing familiar.” Instead there were miles of fields. “This literally broadened my horizon.” Enno von Ruffin returned to Germany to his home in Schleswig-Holstein. Because it was clear; he as the male heir takes over the farm and the responsibility for the business and the therefore involved people. At just 27 years of age. He structured, modernized, rented the empty buildings to craftsmen. The former horse stable nowadays contains an inn; events take place in the barns, from dog competitions to the ‘Players Night’ – a night where the polo cup, which regularly takes place at Basthorst, is celebrated.

In the former horse stable – built in 1913 by the ancestors of the Ruffin family, the Brusselles – visitors will find a comfortable restaurant, in which German cuisine is served

Basthorst is popular for its seasonal markets. Next weekend starts this years Christmas market. Ten thousands of visitors will come to attune themselves to the Advent season with Negus and deer-sausages. And to sing Christmas songs with Vicky Leandros. In the mid 80s Enno von Ruffin gets to know the famous singer in the once legendary Hamburg nightclub ‘Insel’ (island). First he didn’t know who she is; he did one of his flippant slogans, which she skillfully parried. He introduced her to his – luckily relatively liberal – parents so that Vicky’s Greek origin or the “standardized marriage” were no obstacles. Today they are amicably seperated.

The pond of the village lies romantically in the middle of the hundreds of years old building-ensemble

35 employees and a diversity of temporary workers take care of the farm estate. “I am farmer”, says Enno von Ruffin, “I don’t want to look after chair covers.” The animal husbandry – pigs, cows, sheep, chicken with which Enno grew up – have been abolished in the 60s. Now there are horses again, because Ennos companion, the Swedish Estelle Rytterborg, is a passionate show jumper. A passion that unifies both and nearly leads to a disaster: in fast gallop Enno fell from his horse, suffers from a life-threatening breach in his lungs. “Such incisions make you humble”, he says in thoughts. Since then he doesn’t smoke anymore. “Sometimes I drink enough”, he laughs. Enno enjoys skiing in Kitzbühel during his holidays and says about himself that he’s a ‘car-driving rambler’. “I got calmer, don’t have to attend every party.” The wild times are over now.

Enno von Ruffin with companion Estelle Rytterborg

What is from true importance? The family. Of course. The children Leo, Milana and Sandra. His companion Estelle and her daughter Pauline. Friendships. Basthorst. Milana, who’s meanwhile mother of two children, is going to take over Gut Basthorst one day. Gradually, how Enno von Ruffin emphasizes. Sometimes. Because he cannot completely release: “I always have an ear on the yard.” If it’s raining inside or if the wind whips off the tiles of the roof: it will be his phone, which rings. BvH

Christmas market in Basthorst

Tip:

The Christmas market at Gut Basthorst is one of the most beautiful in North Germany. It starts on the 20th of November (except the 22nd of November) and will be open all Advent weekends: from Friday until Sunday 300 exhibitors offer handcrafts and regional specialties in harmonic atmosphere.
Friday the 27th of November Vicky Leandros is doing a Christmas benefit concert in favor of ‘Ein Herz für Kinder’ (‘a heart for children’). You can auction a VIP-Christmas Tree that will be signed by celebrities like Udo Lindenberg, H.P. Baxter, Johannes B. Kerner, and others.

About the antique secretary the coat of arms of the ancestors

“I’m a human of yard and family, this is what makes my day”, says Enno von Ruffin, who is accompanied by the two Jack Russell terriers Lion and Trouper at every step

Shopping at Gut Basthorst: in the outbuildings of the yard are several shops that invite to further shopping experiences

Over all reigns the neo-Gothic, evangelist Granit church St. Marien – with Baron Enno von Ruffin as patron

Diverse trades have been established at Gut Basthorst: a shoemaker and bassoon-maker, a glider and a felt maker …

… There’s an antiques shop and boutiques for fashion, presents as well as a distillery, a bakery and a whisky-storage

Always with Enno von Ruffin: Lion and Trouper. Sweet!

Pure nature: Gast Basthorst in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Accession at Gut Basthorst is an original ‘Holzhäuserl’ (house out of wood) from Tirol …

… marvelous lodge-feeling – for this no one has to drive to Austria

Impressions of the countryside …

… and one photo opportunity more beautiful than the other

Enno von Ruffin and me

Contact:

Gut Basthorst
Auf dem Gut 3
21493 Basthorst, Germany

www.gut-basthorst.de

The post At home with Enno von Ruffin appeared first on My Stylery.

In the dining room a painting of Haralampi G. Oroschakoff: the triptych „Russia – Death of Cleopatra – Byzantium”. Stools: American Colonial Period, Table: France 20.Jhd.

Who enters the commodious flat in the old building of Diana Countess of Hohenthal and Bergen and Haralampi Oroschakoff, resorts himself on a time journey and douses into the history of two aristocratic families: there are nearly no objects that do not tell a significant story. The Countess, who was born in Munich, whose family was appointed by Prince Friedrich August I. of Saxony into the earldom back in the sixteenth century, was raised in the Bavarian baroque castle Maxlrain. The Austrian Haralampi is descended from the old Russian noble family of the Bojaren Haralamow, that can be followed back to the eleventh century. Since 15 years the gallery owner and the international successful artist – whose pieces are exhibited by prominent figures like singer Vicky Leandros, designer Jette Joop or Princess Firyal of Jordan – live in Berlin with their children.

The gallery owner Diana Countess of Hohenthal with her husband, the artist and author Haralampi G. Oroschakoff in their Berlin apartment

MyStylery: Apparently you love the change: this apartment is already your third home in Berlin.
Diana von Hohenthal: The last apartment was too small – we needed more space. Now we are here for two years and feel very well. And we remained faithful to the old structures, a newly constructed building will never be an option.

The Vintage Versace chair comes from the Versace gallery in Fasanenstraße in Berlin and was bartered by art. In the back a baroque chest and the view to the study

MS: Where does your passion for old constructions come from?
DvH: I usually perceive newly constructed buildings as too sterile; I could never live in a puristic apartment. As I was raised in a castle with 150 rooms I need a lot of space, high ceilings and air to breath.

The painting “attack” by Friedrich Fehr (1918), in front of a shaman rod of Kazakhstan by the people of Or’schak

MS: Haralampi, you were raised as a son of a fabricant in Vienna and Cannes. And you still spend half of the year at the Cote d’Azur…
Haralampi G. Oroschakoff: The life in Cannes and the view over the ocean are my elixir of life. Down south is a whole other creativity, which is mainly because of the light. Cannes is the core of the whole family.

The chandellier in the dining room is Art Deco from Vienna

In the Oroschakoff’s library, the walls are traditionally kept in red. Art Deco chairs invite you to leisurely browse

MS: Here you immediately notice especially the oriental details and colourful walls.
HGO: The walls in my workroom are red, red is so inspiring. The dining hall is turkeys and the salon always peach-colored. Yet it has always been like this in all our apartments…
DvH: We put everything together which we got, including heirlooms like the baroque commode in the salon or the oriental-artist carpet. That is how the mix of old and new, modern and antique came up.

“Polis / Republican gardens” of Haralampi Oroschakoff G. (1992). Beside the founder time chest and family photos, a Louis XVI chair

MS: Do you always agree in terms of interior?
HGO: Usually. But we have different perspectives in terms of tidiness. Diana tends to build heaps and thinks it is comfortable…
DVH: … and on the contrary for you; nothing should be weird, not even the ashtray.
HGO: That is how my inner system demands it. (laughs)

A painting of the South Russian School (17th century): Patron saint and namesake of the entire family of the Bojaren Haralamov-Oreschak

MS: All those paintings in a flat of an artist is not a surprise really. Interesting is, that the pieces mainly come from other painters. Do you need the space to your own work?
DvH: Not necessarily. There are still some of Haralampis paintings, like the triptych „Russia – Death of Cleopatra – Byzantium” in the dining room that Haralampi gave me.
HGO: The paintings of our Petersburg hanging in the kitchen are presents from Rosi Trockel, George Condo, Michel Würthle or Pascha Pepperstein. We do also exchange paintings amongst ourselves as a sign of respect and appreciation. And that is a good thing, otherwise there would only be distinction and intrigues left. (laughs)

The Petersburg hanging in the kitchen with paintings of Rosi Trockel, George Condo, Michel Würthle, Pascha Pepperstein and others

Haralampi on his regular place in the kitchen and his daily training with “Solitaire”: “There is nothing better for the concentration”.

MS: What would you do without in housing design?
HGO: As a writer an apartment without books would be unacceptable. There would also always be a place for my favorite piece, a Russian icon, which tells the story of the holy Haralampi – Charlampii, after which the Oreschak progeny were named. This name only exists in my family.
DvH: Art is a must. To me, artless rooms are a little bleak. It is strange enough that pictures usually hang too high or they are crooked. Thereby it is so easy to position a painting properly: a hammer, a bubble level and two nails. Done!  BvH

Light reflections in the corridor

Portrait of Haralampi G. Oroschakoff by his friend, the Berlin dandy Michel Würthle (1995)

Portrait of Andy Warhol by Joseph Beuys (1989), a present of the Berlin gallery Klüser

Also a collector: Haralampi Oroschakoff

Above the Noveau Art secretary in the bedroom the painting “Polis” of Haralampi G. Oroschakoff (1990)

In the master bedroom an antique, silk wedding kimono from Japan above the bed head

The Baroque showcase with medals, badges and memories of both families and a family portrait

In the hallway Russian icons and a look into the study

The photo shows the house in Cannes at the Cote d’Azur, the core of the family and the creative workshop of Haralampi G.Oroschakoff

Contact:

www.hohenthalundbergen.de
www.oroschakoff.com

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