Grand Chalet
The Grand Chalet, also known as Grand Chalet de Rossinière, Grande Demeure, Grande Maison or Chalet Balthus, is a historic chalet in Rossinière, the French part of Switzerland. It is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. The French name Le Grand Chalet means "The Big Chalet", in the sense of: The biggest house in town.
Historical significance
Although the small municipality of Rossinière was ravaged by fire three times – in 1600, 1776 and 1855 – it boasts a remarkable cultural and architectural heritage. In addition to the Grand Chalet, these include the town hall, built in 1635, and the Maison de la Place built in 1664. Because of the risk of fire, the burnt down houses were increasingly built of stone when they were rebuilt.In Rossinière, the most beautiful residences were built by skilled and mostly local craftsmen for wealthy people who held important social positions within the community.
The local authorities of Rossinière and the authorities of the Canton of Vaud had long recognised that the Grand Chalet was an exceptional and unique building. If it were built of stone, it would be called a castle. The responsible cantonal archaeologist, Louis Bosset, stated laconically when classifying the Grand Chalet as a cantonal monument in 1946:
Architectural uniqueness
The Grand Chalet is one of the oldest and grandest chalets ever built in Switzerland, dating to the mid-18th century. The house was originally built for the local governor and curial during the time of the Bernese rule, Jean-David Henchoz, who was also a solicitor and farmer as well as a cheese and timber entrepreneur. In short: He was the most powerful man in the entire area. Accordingly, size mattered to him. Jean-David Henchoz played a key role in the design of the Grand Chalet. Some sources of information even list him as the architect. This was not uncommon at the time. Typically, the owner and the master carpenter were jointly responsible for the chalet plans.The Grand Chalet is considered one of the largest wooden houses ever built in the Alps. In one chronicle it is described as a "castle with a turtle shell". The painter Balthus spent the last decades of his life in the Grand Chalet.
The Grand Chalet has inspired various writers and poets throughout the centuries, giving rise to poems, stories and legends about this unique mountain house, which has always been a haven for artists.
Overview of architectural features
The Grand Chalet was built between 1752 and 1756. The masonry base is the work of Gabriel Massard. He and his workers built a special open-air lime kiln, specifically for the production of lime and gypsum for the masonry of the Grand Chalet. The wooden structure is the work of the master carpenter Joseph Genayne of Château-d'Œx and his carpenters. Joseph Genayne evidently had a profound knowledge of structural engineering. The numerous partition walls stabilise the building and prevent the exterior walls from sagging. The friezes and painted decorations are by Jean Raynaud and his wife Marie Perronet of Château-d'Œx. It took 43 days to complete the painted decorations, including verses, inscriptions, coats of arms and frescoes depicting flowers and symbolic animals.Scale and dimensions
The Grand Chalet surpasses all the superlatives of all other chalets in Switzerland. It is the largest chalet in the entire country and it is the largest inhabited wooden single-family home in Switzerland. The Grand Chalet consists of: 500 m2 of floor space, 60 rooms on five floors, 113 windows and a 2,800-letter dedication painted on the façade, partly consisting of verses from the works of Antoinette du Ligier de la Garde Deshoulières. The other inscriptions express the deep Christian faith of Jean-David Henchoz, the first owner of the house. Some of the thought-provoking verses are: "How little man knows the death he fears", "Pride is ridiculous and vain", "Death is born with him", "He begins to die long before he dies", "The worms will grow fat on your rotting flesh", "Do well today, without waiting until tomorrow" and "Because who can be sure of being alive tomorrow".The first owner of the Grand Chalet, Jean-David Henchoz, had himself immortalised on the north façade of his house with the following inscription: "It is by the help of God that the Sieur Jean-David Henchoz, the current curial
Wooden architecture and materials
The wooden structure of the Grand Chalet is made entirely of local Alpine wood, with elaborately carved balconies and a sloping roof characteristic of traditional Swiss architecture. To build the chalet it required 750 m3 of logs, or more than 200 spruce trees, and 950 m2 of shingles for the roof, or 70 more spruce trees. The shingles of the Grand Chalet are 45 centimetres long, 13 centimetres wide and 8 millimetres thick, which represents approximately 225 shingles per square metre. When the roof of the Grand Chalet was re-roofed in 1994, over 200,000 shingles were needed. In total, almost 1,000 m3 of wood were cut in the owner's forests for the construction of the Grand Chalet. On the west side, however, a stone wall protects the façade of the Grand Chalet, which is exposed to the weathering of the west wind. The south façade is the largest façade of the Grand Chalet. It measures 27.0 meters by 19.5 meters with a depth of 15.0 meters.But early on, there were voices that argued the Grand Chalet was too big. In 1848, the building tax assessors wrote in their report on the Grand Chalet: "It is a building of gigantic size, with numerous rooms, many of which, however, are unheated. The roof is expensive to maintain. The rental value and the selling price are highly illusory, since there is no possibility of renting out a similar building. It follows from all this that the market value bears no relation to the income, since one could achieve more with less money."
Cheese-making history
The Grand Chalet was originally designed not only as a residential building for two families, but also as a regional cheese warehouse and trading center, reflecting the economic significance of dairy production in the area. This also explains the extraordinary size of the house, especially the cellar, where up to 600 cheese wheels could be stored, mainly coming from the L'Étivaz valley. And this also explains why Jean-David Henchoz was called the Cheese Baron.However, Jean-David Henchoz was only able to enjoy his mansion for two years before succumbing to an illness in 1758 at the age of 46. With him, his project of building a major regional cheese center also died. The other cheesemongers settled elsewhere in the Gruyère District. His widow Marie-Madeleine Henchoz, née Pilet, and his brother Abram were unable to continue his work. Their business remained comparatively modest.
Conversion into a hotel
In 1852, the Grand Chalet was turned into a hotel by Rodolphe Henchoz de Loës, a great-grandson of Jean-David Henchoz. At that time, the Grand Chalet was inhabited by only one member of the family Henchoz. Most likely it was the pastor Charles Scholl. Charles Scholl was a grandson of Gabriel Henchoz, who was the second brother of Jean-David Henchoz. It was during the course of the conversion into a hotel that Rodolphe Henchoz de Loës renamed the house, previously known as Grande Maison, first to Pension Henchoz and then to Hôtel-Pension du Grand Chalet.Rodolphe Henchoz de Loës recognised the signs of the times. He wanted to take advantage of the potential of Switzerland's natural beauty, as already praised by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on his travels there in 1775, 1779 and 1797. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's widely read reports made Switzerland appear as a real place of longing. In addition, with the development of the railway and steam shipping, the travel activity of the European upper class had increased rapidly. With the Grand Chalet, Rodolphe Henchoz de Loës also had an ideal house, which, due to its size, was ideally suited to being converted into a hotel. The Hôtel-Pension du Grand Chalet was one of the first hotels in the area.
Renovation and early operation
To improve the Grand Chalet's use as a hotel, significant changes were made. These included the construction of a gallery on the south side, the removal of two large open fireplaces in the kitchens and the conversion of the basement rooms on the ground floor into a dining room with large windows and French doors. Some of these changes were later reversed during further renovations. At this time, the painted decorations on the façade were also restored for the first time.Contrary to the exterior appearance, the rooms of the Grand Chalet are mostly rather small and simple, the corridors narrow and the ceilings low. Because of this, you don't notice the Grand Chalet's size inside. You never feel like you are in a big house. The large number of rooms was an advantage for the hotel operation. Many room doors still bear the original hotel room numbers. However, due to the difficulty of heating the house, it can be assumed that not all rooms of the house were actually used.
Despite all the structural changes that were made over time for the hotel operation, until the hotel closed in 1976 there was only one bathroom on the ground floor for hotel guests, but over 40 chamber pots.