Hôtel des 3 Vallées

Interior design Pioneering mountianeering

Interior design Pioneering mountianeering

Interior architect Gilles Leborgne and his team sought to “erase the memory of the various modifications...

and different layouts that have amassed over the years, and take the chalet back to the state it was in when it was first built in the 1950s.” The lobby area—featuring original furniture by the likes of Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, and Pierre Paulin—now offers the perfect example of an open-plan flow, where a mezzanine gives way to a lofty-ceilinged bar and restaurant.

Architecture Auberge de luxe

Perhaps the best archetypes of good design are those that don’t ignore the old in favor of the new.

Such was the case in this first prototype of 1950s post-war modernism, which from the outside is the very picture of traditional mountain architecture—a wooden chalet that subtly blends in with its breathtaking surroundings. While the natural materials continue inside, the furniture, which is worthy of a modern museum, creates a grand urban inn.