Valeria Mella and her husband Adi Rüedi describe themselves as travel, food and lifestyle bloggers, content creators and online store operators. It's clear that they know how to present themselves and their content online. When they take on a project, it must not only attract attention, but also look good. Even the floating glass bungalow that they realized on Lake Partnun in Prättigau generated the mix of style, high-tech and mountain scenery that catches the eye and generates clicks.

The "Tiny House Gondola" takes the concept to the next level. Of course, it takes a lot of courage to buy a discarded cabin from the Engelberg Brunni cable car and convert it into a Tiny House yourself with the help of professional craftsmen. "We've been fascinated by the tiny house movement for years. We wanted to do something that didn't yet exist in this form," explains Valeria.

Simplicity or spectacle?

The Tiny House Movement promotes a frugal lifestyle in a reduced living space. Ecology, low housing costs and a "less is more" attitude are the most frequently cited reasons for living in a tiny house. Valeria and Adi never intended to live in their gondola, but simply to spend an occasional night in an exclusive location and otherwise rent it out to guests. There would probably have been no other way to finance the elaborate conversion, even if some of the materials and work had been sponsored. Valeria Mella estimated the value of the gondola at over 100,000 francs in an interview with Blick. "Of course we want to recoup that," Valeria explains to Ride, adding: "The gondola is also part of our business."

The Youtube videos make it easy to see just how much sweat and passion went into the cabin, with Adi bubbling over with enthusiasm for his ideas and their implementation. At the same time, you can see his increasing exhaustion the closer he gets to completion. And the weight limit hangs over the design-oriented extension like a sword of Damocles, as the two want to be able to tow the gondola on the trailer with their own SUV, for which it must weigh a maximum of 1700 kilos. The Tiny House builders finally overcame this obstacle too, and nothing stood in the way of the gondola's first journey.

Where is the gondola after Piz Nair?

The coronavirus summer, during which travel enthusiasts increasingly sought out destinations in Switzerland, certainly played into the hands of the Tiny House gondola. With the viewing platform on the Piz Nair in the Engadin, the two operators found a spectacular first station, which not least made mountain bikers sit up and take notice. Within ten hours, all the nights offered on the Piz Nair gondola for three months were fully booked.