Wohn- und Geschäftshaus, Haus Vallaster

The former Vallaster shop stands opposite Schruns station in the heart of the Montafon valley. Built in 1937–38 for Alfons Vallaster, it was designed by architects Alois Dönz and Franz Reznicek. The three-storey building mixes stone and rendered façades under a steep pitched roof. Its clean lines and symmetrical windows show the influence of inter-war modernism. The ground floor once sold hardware and household goods, while the upper floor housed guest rooms under the name Fremdenheim Kapell. The house passed to Alfons’s son Armin in the early 1960s. From the 1970s the Montafonerbahn ran a radio and television shop on the ground floor. At the same time the upstairs rooms became a guest house. In 1983 a Volksbank branch opened on the ground floor. After 2018 the space became the town’s tourist information centre. The roof was renewed in 1988 to protect the original structure. Visitors now find a calm information office on the ground floor. Upstairs the former guest rooms remain, their simple fittings unchanged. The building’s restrained style contrasts with the busy station across the street. Its stone base and white upper walls catch the morning light. The modest modernist façade quietly marks Schruns’ growth in the 20th century.