Villa Savoye: Visiting Le Corbusier’s Modernist Masterpiece

When we travelled to France last year, we stayed in Poissy, on the western outskirts of Paris. It was perfectly placed for Gerberoy, Giverny, Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Paris, but there was another reason I was keen to stay here: Villa Savoye. While researching the area, I stumbled across this modernist villa and, being a big fan of modernism, I knew I had to visit.

But before I get to the villa, let me tell you a little about the man who designed it. Charles-Édouard Jeanneret was born in Switzerland in 1887, but in 1920 he adopted the name Le Corbusier, a pseudonym based on his family name, Lecorbésier.

Le Corbusier became one of the most influential architects of the 20th century and a leading figure in modernist architecture. He believed that buildings should respond to modern life rather than being constrained by traditional forms and decoration.

The Ground Floor of Villa Savoye

Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret designed Villa Savoye between 1928 and 1931 as a weekend and country house for Pierre and Eugénie Savoye in Poissy, just outside Paris.

This striking modernist home brings together Le Corbusier’s famous Five Points of Architecture. The pilotis lift the house above the ground, leaving the ground floor largely open. You can see them in the photo above and those below.

A free plan allows the interior spaces to flow more freely, while a free façade means the exterior is no longer dictated by the building’s structure. Long horizontal ribbon windows flood the rooms with light, while the roof terrace opens the house to the sky and draws fresh air back into the heart of the house.

A ramp runs through the centre of the building from the entrance all the way to the roof terrace, creating what Le Corbusier called an architectural promenade, with changing views as you move through the house.

The curved ground-floor wall was designed partly around the turning circle of the Savoyes’ car, allowing it to drive underneath the house. You can see the inside of the curve in the photo above, while the first two photos show it from the outside.

The First Floor of Villa Savoye

The journey through the house was deliberately choreographed. Each room, staircase or passage feels like a carefully curated piece of art. Above, you can see the entrance to the main terrace, showing the glass wall of the salon to the right.

The salon was one of my favourite rooms in Villa Savoye. I love the wall of glass overlooking the main terrace and my mind lights up imagining how it must have looked furnished.

Stairs leading up to the solarium and roof terrace.

At times, the beauty of Villa Savoye lies in its simple elegance, as with the second bathroom (above) and the study (below).

There are some wonderfully unexpected details inside, including the upper floor’s open bathroom, with its curved blue-tiled tub, built-in chaise longue, and skylight.

I would have spent long, languid days here, relaxing in the steam and basking in the rays from the skylight.

The Main Terrace and Roof of Villa Savoye

The roof was intended as a garden and solarium, rather than simply a roof. The photo above is taken from the main terrace, looking into the salon.

From the main terrace, a ramp ascends to the solarium in two sections, offering expansive views across the rooftop.

Almost there. Can you tell it was a really hot day? This was the week temperatures in Paris hit 40°c. A bit more on temperatures and Villa Savoye below.

The Solarium of Villa Savoye

Le Corbusier believed the elevated garden gave the occupants a better view of the surrounding landscape than being down at ground level.

When the house was built, this window offered uninterrupted views of the landscape in the distance, but the view is now obscured by the growth of the surrounding trees. Their greenery is a welcome sight in modern times, even if it has come at the expense of the original view.

I wonder if the solarium ever looked lush and green, or was it always battered by the elements?

We exited the solarium and took the stairs down to the first floor.

The Exterior Elevations of Villa Savoye

The North-East Facade of Villa Savoye

Despite being celebrated as a masterpiece of modern architecture, the house was ultimately unliveable. It suffered from water penetration and poor thermal performance, becoming too hot in summer and too cold in winter. The flat roof proved particularly problematic, as you can see from those poor weather-beaten plants.

The South-East and North-East Facades of Villa Savoye

The Savoye family eventually stopped using the house. By 1937, Eugénie Savoye was describing it as uninhabitable, and the villa was eventually abandoned by the family around the beginning of the Second World War.

The South-East Facade of Villa Savoye

Villa Savoye was threatened with demolition in the 1950s. An international campaign by architects, including Le Corbusier himself, helped save it, and it was eventually bought by the French state.

The South-West and South-East Facades of Villa Savoye

Villa Savoye was designated a Monument Historique in the mid-1960s and was included in the UNESCO World Heritage listing of Le Corbusier’s architectural work in 2016.

The South-West Facade of Villa Savoye

The front, or north-west facade of Villa Savoye, is pictured in the first photo above, showing the turning circle on the ground floor.

Today, Villa Savoye is open Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am to 5pm between September and April and 10am to 6pm between May and August. Admission is €9, with free entry for under-18s and eligible 18–25-year-olds. For those aged 18–25, free entry applies to EU nationals and regular non-European residents of France.

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Shoo. We finally reach the end. This post took weeks (weeks!) to draft and began as what I thought would be a quick post. That was another reason for my silence in September, in addition to being busy. I hope you enjoyed the post as much as I enjoyed visiting Villa Savoye and writing about it.