“Villa Le Lac” A House for the parents

Georges Edouard Jeanneret, a watch engraver and enameler and his wife Marie Charlotte Amelie Jeanneret- Perret, a music teacher of little Suisse village was presented with a “Small House” by his architect son at Vevey near Lac Leman in the year 1924. The architect did prepare some initial sketches of the building, which incidentally is lost to us, but the project was delayed in finding a suitable site. The “Villa Le Lac” was ultimately built at 21, Rue de Lavaux-1802 Corseaux on the shores of Lac Leman (Geneva) Suisse in the year 1924.

I along with my wife (on a seminar) was on holiday in July 2004 to Switzerland and stayed for a few days in Vevey, a beautiful city on the north east of Lac Leman and with Alps all around. While exploring the city which is the headquarters of Nestle and Montreux, famous for great Jazz festival we came across a statue of hungry Charlie Chaplin, the great British director and actor. I knew that the great man spent around last thirty years of his fruitful life in a little village in Vevey and interned in Corsier-Sur-Vevey cemetery after his death on Christmas day 1977. We decided to visit the place one afternoon and after lot of inquiry were able to locate the tomb stone and pay homage to the hungry man. During our inquiry in the same locality we were told by the locals to visit a “Small House” now converted to museum by the “Foundation Le Corbusier” on the eastern end of Lac Leman.

After some time we found the “Small House” at 21, Rue de Lavaux-1802 Corseaux on the shores of Lac Leman Suisse just besides the road. After initial formalities, the curator said to spent as much time we want and eat as much fruits we like from the blooming cherry tree, which stands on the left hand side of the villa. We did enjoy our stay with fruits picked from the roof while the curator was engrossed with his book. The single storied little house is really little with not more than 700 sq ft with lake on the south and road on the north, which is blocked with boundary wall with creepers. The south east of the small premise has a beautiful sitting area with uninterrupted view of the lake for the owners. The lake side has long windows to have the view of the lake and the high peaks of Alps in Italy. 

The inside has no partitions and compartments except for toilet with door opening without the shutter to facilitate wheel chair bound old parents of the great architect. I was told that the father stayed there for about five years and the mother for more than twenty years. I don’t want to go into further details and my impression of the building and its furniture as it may be immaterial to others. 

While wandering through the area and furniture designed by the architect for its famous inhabitants, I remember suddenly the famous words of the famous architect “You employ stone, wood and concrete and with these materials you build houses and palaces, that is construction, ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say, this is beautiful, that is architecture, art enters in”

Charles Edouard Jeanneret, the Swiss born French architect born on 6th October 1887. He adopted Le Corbusier as his pseudonym in 1920. He is also well known in India as architect planner of union territory Chandigarh, which I saw for the first time during my student days forty six years back. But alas it is nightmarish vision now and I avoid visiting its famous buildings and structures for fear of forgetting the awestruck impact on me forty six years back, which I still cherish with strong will not to forget. He and his collaborators also did some wonderful masterpieces in and around Ahmedabad, details of which are well known to all of us including we in Calcutta enjoyed their presence to some extent.

Nov- 2011.