Villa Schwob (Villa Turque)

Villa Schwob was built in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1916–1917 for Anatole Schwob, owner of the Cyma watch company. It was the last major work completed by Charles-Édouard Jeanneret in his home town before he moved to Paris.

Also known as the “Villa Turque”, the house is distinguished by its geometric volumes, façades partially clad in ochre brick and the striking contrast between the almost closed street side and the garden façade, which opens up through a large window.

In designing this residence, the young architect experimented with innovative principles that foreshadowed his later work: a reinforced-concrete structure inspired by the Dom-Ino system, the free plan and free façade, as well as a flat roof. The house thus illustrates Charles-Édouard Jeanneret’s gradual transition towards the modern architectural language for which Le Corbusier would later become world-famous.

Villa Schwob is now privately owned by the Ebel watch brand and is not open to visitors. Its architecture can, however, be admired from the outside.