An exceptional Swiss chalet by Ian Phillips
The chalet, however, was not without its quirks. It had been built using traditional log construction methods by its previous owner, who was a model-train fanatic. ‘It was designed around his train collection,’ she explains. ‘There were tracks running along the beams, and holes in the walls for trains to go through.’ Redecorating the interiors proved an opportunity for her to reconnect with Maria. The two women share a Lebanese heritage and met when they were at a boarding school in Geneva. Maria had the added advantage of knowing the Swiss Alps well, as her family had kept an apartment in Gstaad for the past 50 years: ‘It’s like home. Being from Lebanon, I’ve always felt it was a safe haven.’
A self-taught designer, she is best known for two projects in Beirut – the Liza restaurant and Lebanon’s only Relais & Châteaux property, the Hotel Albergo. ‘Maria knows how to create homes where people are happy,’ notes the owner. ‘She transcends fashions and the spaces that she creates are just as magical 10 years later. The Oriental touches she brings to her work were another reason I wanted to collaborate with her – to create something that would reflect my heritage.’
‘We chose to have just a few pieces that speak for themselves,’ says Maria, explaining the choice of iconic furniture like the cardboard ‘Wiggle’ chair, also by Frank Gehry. The hammered-tin side table was made in Lebanon to her design
Little construction work was required, apart from the basement level being reconfigured. The owner wanted each level to show a different aspect of her personality and says, ‘My aim was to create a surprise on each floor.’ She is a keen art collector and has placed works by the likes of Gavin Turk, Rebecca Horn, and John Armleder in the chalet. Her big passion, however, is the art brut produced by patients at the Gugging psychiatric clinic in the Vienna suburbs, which she first discovered in the late 1980s. ‘It’s a pictorial art that is very intuitive, true and authentic,’ she explains. ‘There are no external influences. They didn’t look at magazines – they didn’t know who Andy Warhol was. Their art expresses raw emotions.’
To reflect that love of art, the basement level has been conceived as an installation. As you enter from the garage, a concrete path takes you past a wall adorned with dozens of Charlotte Perriand’s iconic ‘CP1’ lights towards the exposed rock face. Next to it, a Gianni Motti sculpture stands in the form of a signpost, with one arrow pointing to Success and the other to Failure.
