Humble and strong, one building at a time.
Dwennimmen is a family property company with Ghanaian and Swiss roots. We buy, renovate and run residential buildings in French-speaking Switzerland and the Jura arc. Here we explain, candidly, why property protects wealth, and why it is not an investment for the faint-hearted.
Two cultures, one home.
Dwennimmen was born of a mixed marriage. On one side, Ghana and the Adinkra symbols of the Akan peoples, hand-stamped on cloth, each carrying a proverb. On the other, German-speaking Switzerland, from the Grisons and Bern, and the blue gentian that flowers near the family chalet in the Grisons: a mountain flower, modest and hardy, that holds firm against wind and snow. Humble and strong, too.
We live in the Canton of Vaud, in French-speaking Switzerland. Our children are growing up with both cultures, and it is this fusion that makes us strong: West Africa’s warmth and sense of community, Switzerland’s rigour and care for work well done. Serving the community is part of who we are, too: my wife now sits on our village’s municipal council.
We chose the Dwennimmen symbol, the ram’s horns, for our wedding in 2005. The ram fights fiercely, yet knows when to yield: it stands for humility together with strength. As the name of our company it found its full meaning: humility to learn a new trade, strength to hold on when things get hard.
A building is, first of all, someone’s home.
Behind every door there is a family, a student, a retiree. Owning the building gives us a responsibility towards them: to provide a home that is safe, healthy and well maintained, where people feel respected.
- Repairs taken seriously and handled quickly
- Safety checks kept up to date: electrics, heating, fire protection
- Clean, safe common areas and a caretaker on hand
- Clear rules, applied fairly, and respect for privacy
Tenants who are well housed stay longer. What is fair is also what lasts.
Real experience, not a brochure.
Why property
Money loses value; bricks and mortar keep it. With the right debt, the rent pays off the building.
Why we do it →What we have learned
A storm, two years of wrangling with insurers, a property manager let go, stolen heating oil. And what we took from it.
The journal →What we are looking for
Multi-unit residential buildings with tenants in place and potential to unlock. Discretion and a quick answer.
We buy →Four years, a first building, and what comes next
Our first building, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, was our school. After four years we are preparing the next chapter: income buildings, new builds, and pilot projects to help more people start their journey towards financial resilience.
The team that works alongside us.
One letter, a few times a year.
What we learn buying, renovating and running buildings: the good news and the nasty surprises. And, when the time comes, first sight of the properties we sell.
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