Wood structures in Switzerland can last an extremely long time. My relatives own a farm in the Bernese Oberland and the main farmhouse/barn is made almost entirely from wood and is at least 300 years old. There is a neighbor's farm house that has wooden beams in it that, after some investigation, the owner thinks are more than 500 years old. Another family member owns a wooden home (near Mammern) that is about 150 years old.

1. In the winter trees don’t freeze solid, and firewood burn rate has an inverse relationship to log diameter.

2. Wood durability (species and quality being equal) depends on cyclical moisture exposure. Submerged timber can remain intact for centuries. In the rain forest the same wood might rot in a few decades.

From a construction standpoint, the glass in the house would dominate the conductive heat losses of the wall assembly.

From a maintenance standpoint, one piece of old wood is fungible with a new piece and two 2x4’s properly nailed together are stronger than a single 4x4…that’s why light frame construction uses double top plates, jack studs, etc.

Aesthetically the potential for patina is a reason an architect might choose wood finishes.

1-- First snow of the season occurred our first night. My memory is that the walls never felt cold. We started a fire using that granite cylinder fireplace. You pack it with about 12 logs, light it and then shut the door tightly. It burns the wood efficiently over several hours and then continues to radiate ten+ hours of heat into the house. Overall: very comfortable.

I think the beams were 6" of solid wood.

2-- Alpine woods are incredible. The table top in that picture was unfinished. The instructions of the house say that if you spill something, you just wipe it off with a damp rag.

I was terrified of eating fondue or jam-and-bread with my kids there, thinking we would mess up his table. Fact is: we did have spaghetti and spilled sauce, and the damp rag treatment didn't leave any stains.

Zumthor also seems to have a big family and there is evidence his grandchildren operate like normal kids in that place.

My son gave me a wooden box carved from alpine wood, and the maker intentionally kept it unfinished. The maker told me that the oils in the alpine wood provide a natural protection; +1 yr later and that box sits in our kitchen holding salt. It has developed a natural patina despite lots of mid-sautee grabs, opens, and pinches.

TLDR: like cedar, ipe, and other special woods, I think the wood used to build this house will last a long time in that natural environment.

Fascinating. thank you for sharing

1- Those beams under the roof on the picture are not part of the interior. There is probably some insulation between construction and outside cladding. There is also some in-between construction.

2- If outside is painted it needs to be repainted at some point. There are also untreated facades or facades treated with fire [0]. Untreated wooden facade must have air gap behind to prevent rot. In case of untreated wood - color and shape is not stable. But in case of facade this is not issue. Structural elements and window/door frames should be treated though.

[0]: ie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakisugi

For the first question, not a perfect answer, but my family owns a log cabin in the Pacific Northwest, and the logs retain heat. Go there any time of the year when nobody's been around for a while and it's like stepping into a refrigerator, but if you light a fire and keep it burning all day, the walls heat up and it gets liveable inside. It's a bit of a downer if you just stop by for lunch, but it's great for a 4-day weekend.