Saturday, March 13, 2010

La Châtelaine

When Henri de Büren sold the castle of Vaumarcus he moved with his family to the manor home of "La Châtelaine" in Aïre, near Geneva. The property was once the home of Dr. Théodore Maunoir, co-founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross as well as the International Thudichum School.

In some family papers I found a watercolor landscape layout of the property from 1903. The structures are in orange. I have also included a satellite image of roughly the same area today.

Towards the end of Henri's life he already started to sell part of the property to the local gas works. In honor of his generosity, a local street was named for him. The "Chemin Henri de Buren" cuts through what once was the de Büren estate in Geneva.

The large structure is the main house, the circular structure is the farm house.

The full property in 1903.

How the former de Büren estate looks today.

Germaine, Henri and Gustave at La Châtelaine in the 1890s.

Amelie, Jeanne and Alice de Büren at La Châtelaine in the 1890s.

1 comment:

  1. What a great post with great photos. I am so impressed with what you continue to uncover.

    ReplyDelete

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