The Swiss chalet book; a minute analysis and reproduction of the ...

22 SWITZERLAND VISITED
model chalet designed for the
Paris exposition of 1880,
where it was bought by a
prominent citizen of Montreux,
dismounted and
shipped to its present eyrie.
An idea of its situation may
be gained from the photograph
on page 19; another cut
shows it more in detail. A
leading citizen of Montreux,
whom I had been recommended
to call upon, kindly
gave me permission to examine
some new chalets which
he was building. The pan-
MAP OF GENEVA
orama from their balconies,
under the broad sweep of their vast gables was matchless. With
the aid of the foreman, who talked good-humoredly to me in
Italian-French-Swiss, I learned the names of many details of
these chalets. They were still in the unfinished wood and in all
cases I found the walls to be made of a core of 3-inch planks,
on edge. The floors were of cinder concrete with steel beams,
the beams being 28 inches on centers, with flanges 234 inches wide.
On the way by the funicular railway from Montreux to
Berne, among giant mountains, and through giant valleys, I took
some snap-shots, at the railroad station at Montbovon, and several
at Chateau d'Oex and Berne, a group of which chalets is given on
page 25.
Upon the advice of the vice-consul at Berne, I visited the
Parquet and Chalet Fabrik at Interlaken, and obtained from them
a set of plates with a prospectus of their work.
The chalet designers and manufacturers referred to in the
foregoing are among the foremost inheritors and preservers of
chalet traditions. Is it that in Switzerland the people are less imbued
with the spirit of commercialism and that construction is
more honestly and rightly carried out? The building of chalets
in the fabriques is an entirely different method from that employed
in America. The dwelling in America is erected on the site. The
lumber or other building materials is brought to the site and then
shaped and erected, with the exception of such stock material as
doors, window frames and milled pieces. On the other hand,