Inside wellness guru Jan Gerber’s Swiss countryside retreat for billionaire clients, royals and heads of state

Located deep in the Swiss countryside, Jan Gerber’s sprawling home exudes a sense of restfulness and harmony.

As well it might: as chief executive of Paracelsus Recovery, the exclusive Swiss health clinic that treats heads of state, royalty and billionaires, Jan is an expert in what makes a relaxing, healing retreat.

”We have an open-door policy,” he says of the family home, a former farmhouse he shares with his partner Jil, his eight-year-old son and their pets, golden retriever Balu and cat Mowgli.

”To focus on healing, you need a cosy and welcoming space. Our home has a warm energy running through it and that is something I have always prioritised when seeking a property. My mother’s home was always the most welcoming space and I wanted to find that for myself when creating my own home.”

The country retreat, a 45-minute drive from Zurich, is set in woodland and accessed via narrow, winding roads, which contributes to the feeling of remoteness. ”My stress melts away as soon as I arrive home,” Jan says of the 150-year-old property he spent three years reconstructing. ”It had a mid-1980s style when we bought it in 2020,” he recalls. ”Even though the style wasn’t to my taste, I knew it was a special space and that there was something different about the building.”

EYE FOR DETAIL

He worked hard to create a soothing atmosphere, scouring the continent for special pieces that suited the property, including an ornate marble mantelpiece in the main living room that was rescued from a château in the South of France.

”I spotted it online via a secondhand market for historic mantelpieces and knew it belonged here,” he says.

The sparkling Murano glass chandelier, which is almost 33ft in height, was a gem that had previously caught Jan’s eye: over a decade before he bought the farmhouse, he had spotted the piece in Venice and knew it needed to be part of his home.

Other elements with fascinating back stories include the baroque fireplace in the master bedroom, which was rescued from a demolished castle in Hamburg after Jan’s interior designer noticed that it would fit perfectly.

Meanwhile, the tiles in the wine cellar, discovered by his carpenter, were leftover from the refurbishment of Kloster Fischingen, a historic Swiss monastery.

His hard work has paid off, as he tells us: ”Billionaires often join me here and ask what the ‘secret sauce’ is, but it’s the energy of the property that makes it feel healing, rather than anything that myself, the builders or an architect has created.”

This comforting energy could, he suggests, be attributed to the river that runs under the house; according to the principles of feng shui, running water carries away negative energy.

OPEN ARMS

And his home’s open-door policy is further emphasised by the old German word ”Willkomm” (”welcome”), which is painted on the exterior of the property.

”This is the philosophy of the house – I want people to drop by without making a plan,” Jan says, noting that everyone from the moneyed clients of Paracelsus Recovery to local farmers is welcome to stop by. People from all walks of life mingle on the terrace and drink in the bar, as well as staying in the two guest rooms, which are ”always ready”, Jan says.

”The space isn’t curated to show off,” he adds. ”Many of my clients are wealthy founders, and we invite them to dinner in our home to help them feel welcomed. Sometimes Jil cooks for clients, and we recreate the feeling of a family home, which helps to relax and reset the nervous system and calm clients down. Wealth can be extremely isolating and we offer a private space with home-cooked meals that they likely haven’t experienced since childhood.

”People think that if you’re well off, your emotional pain isn’t real. We want to show compassion and humanity, and this begins by inviting them into our home and treating them like family.”

Jan notes that clinical healing spaces can be sterile, lacking the warmth that clients need to relax, so the atmosphere in his home is reflected in Paracelsus Recovery’s three lakefront clinical residences in Zurich.

REST AND RELAX

”Anything that feels too institutional can hinder healing,” he says. ”For true healing to take place, we need to feel safe and at ease.

”When the environment fosters a sense of security and comfort, the nervous system shifts out of a heightened state of alertness, allowing for deeper psychological healing. Many of these processes happen subconsciously, making the design and ambience of a healing space more influential than we often realise.”

As a result, ”there are always fresh flowers, and candles burning” in each of his clinics’ residences, creating an ideal backdrop for clients to undergo treatments that range from breathwork and talking therapy to acupuncture and reflexology, as well as IV drips. Each client receives bespoke care, enjoying a level of privacy that ensures they will never encounter fellow residents. Wellness is a crucial part of Jan’s home life, too: he and Jil are frequent visitors to their custom wellness suite, which boasts a sauna made from cedar wood (the scent of which can alleviate depression), a steam room, a cold plunge pool and a sound healing bed.

NATURAL HEALING

The house also features a granite pool heated to 40 ̊C, inspired by the Japanese tradition of onsen baths, which are taken in naturally hot springs and are known for their healing properties, helping with muscle tension, stress, and poor sleep.

The pool is a welcome treat after the couple hit their home gym, which includes a Reformer Pilates bed, a treadmill and an exercise bike. ”Jil prefers the Reformer bed; you’ll find me on the running machine or the bike,” Jan says.

The couple know how to have fun too: the atmospheric entertaining space is Jan’s favourite room in the farmhouse, but he also ”loves to host boys’ nights in the bar, which is three converted horse boxes”.

The pair are also known for their summer parties and winter soirées, which they host with caterers and mixologists on hand to create spellbinding occasions. Their home thrums with positive energy, but although it took three years to get the property to where it is today, Jan is not yet done.

”It’s always changing,” he says. ”We have one more house in the grounds, and I want to turn it into a guest suite and healing space for clients. The energy and setting are perfect for offering yoga and sound meditation, and I’d love for the house to make up part of the clinic’s offering, enabling clients to seek refuge here.”

Jan hopes to offer even more healing options at his clinic in the future, but he is adamant that it will never expand too far. ”We only treat three or four clients at a time. Anything beyond that starts to feel institutional,” he says.

”We never want clients to feel like a number, so although we will expand to add more treatments, including equine therapy and maybe psychedelic therapies, we will never expand in size. ”Treating clients with humanity is close to my heart and is the core of what we do.”