This house needs you!

Bring back the soul to this home with the reconstruction of the original wooden windows

A hint in advance: at the end of the page there is a short video in English…

«This looks like something out of a James Bond movie! But could we save it?» we asked ourselves when by chance we discovered this house online a few months ago.

Actually, it was love at first sight, but we deeply fell in love only when we discovered the original walls behind plaster panels and the stone floors which were covered by cement. It was like archaeology …

This little known icon of modern architecture by Swiss architect Hans Demarmels stands on a hill close to the Pyrenees mountains in the southwest of France.

The house was built in 1965 and unfortunately later mutilated by its second owner. The roof is now leaking, the walls are damp and the original wooden frames of the windows have been destroyed. Window openings were bricked up or disappeared under suspended ceilings. The materials, the formats, the sequence of window and door openings were completely changed.

Help us bring back the soul to this architectural icon by reconstructing the original wooden windows!

Living architectural history

We want to preserve the house, make the architecture come alive and share the exciting history of this masterpiece with as many people as possible.

To be quite transparent: the 60,000 Swiss francs (roughly the same amount in USD) required to rebuild the windows accounts for ten percent of the total renovation budget. You can imagine that a new roof, professional wall renovation, a modern heating system and safe electrical installations cost a lot more. These sums we finance ourselves. Only with your help this house will get back its windows!

After completion of the renovation, probably this year, this icon of modern architecture will be open for you, for international guests and for people interested in architecture. However, it will not become a museum, but will remain a residential home. One that is accessible for cultural projects such as exhibitions or readings and also for overnight stays.

Would you also like to spend a night in this inhabitable sculpture, get to know Mike’s cooking and experience the play of light from the first rays of sunshine in the morning? There are already a number of houses that are accessible in this way. You can find them on iconichouses.org. We hope to present our «Maison Cazenave» - named after the first owners - there soon.

And of course we continue the work we started. Thirty tons of non-original material we have already removed. We do the masonry work ourselves, restore the throwing plaster and close holes in the ground with old stone slabs that we found on a pile of rubble behind the house.

Your support is like a breath of fresh air

With your help the reconstruction of the original wooden windows can succeed. Help to bring back the soul of this house - because windows are like eyes and through them you can look into the soul.

By supporting us and by telling your family and friends about this project, more people will get to know and appreciate the unique architecture of Hans Demarmels - that is an essential part of this project.

We firmly believe that the architect Hans Demarmels, who died in 2010, is entitled to a place in the ranks of important Swiss architects like Le Corbusier and others.

This house brings people together. And that’s why we want to get to know you and, if you join in, invite you to the Housewarming Party. By the way, the rewards are all about good taste.

And don’t wait: Choose your reward now and please tell your friends about this project - thank you!