The Manoir de Ban, or Champ de Ban Estate Manor, is a manor house located at Corsier-sur-Vevey on the banks of

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The property is known for having been

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

's home for 25 years, from 1952 until his death in 1977. It houses a museum dedicated to the life and work of its former owner, named Chaplin's World, which opened in April 2016 after 15 years in development. The manor is listed as a heritage site of Swiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National Significance.

Location

The manor lies on the Champ de Ban Estate, above Corsier-sur-Vevey, a wine-growing village on the Swiss Riviera. The estate lies in stunning countryside, between the Lavaux vineyards (a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

and the peaks of the

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

. The estate is 9 km from

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

, 26 km from

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

and 91 km from

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

History

Construction and successive alterations

Before the manor was built, Champ de Ban was a farm. Still standing from this era are a fountain and the farm building on the Fenil road, which has seen many alterations over the years. Charles Emile Henri de Scherer (1791–1871) bought the estate on 27 May 1839. In 1840, he had a neoclassical mansion built on the site. It was recorded in the land registry in 1841. The first plans drafted by architect Philippe Franel (1796–1867) date from September 1839. Franel was the Riviera's star architect at the time. He was responsible for various prestigious buildings in the

Vevey Vevey (; ; ) is a town in Switzerland in the Vaud, canton of Vaud, on the north shore of Lake Leman, near Lausanne. The German name Vivis is no longer commonly used. It was the seat of the Vevey (district), district of the same name until 200 ...

region: the Clock Tower, the Trois-Couronnes hotel, Aile Castle, the Part-Dieu building and numerous local houses. Franel was both a carpenter and an architect, and studied in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. Examples of his work can still be seen throughout the Riviera today. As the cellars of the house show, and as can be seen in the environmental report from the town plan (which mentions vineyards on a currently wooded area in the south of the grounds), wine was also produced on the estate at one time. The house was not named "Manoir de Ban" until 1946, following alterations carried out by the new owners, American diplomat Grafton Winthrop Minot and his wife Anne de Lancey.

Chronological list of owners

* Michel de Crausaz, Lord of the Manor of Corsier Parish (shown on a plan from 1705) * Jean-Pierre Chiron, Captain (shown on a plan from 1776) * Abram David Doron Louis De Lom, Captain (before 1839) * Henri Baud (before 1839) * 27 May 1839: Charles Emile Henri de Scherer – he had the house built (which later became the manor) and had the grounds landscaped. * 3 May 1871: on Mr de Scherer's death, his second wife Jeanne-Marie Adélaïde de Winterfeld inherited the property. * 27 December 1898: the heirs of Mrs de Winterfeld (who did not have any children) * 27 November 1911: sisters Dorothée Rosalie and Rosalia de Winterfeld * 12 June 1914: Louis Alfred Friedel, a gentleman of private means * 6 June 1919: Charles-Louis Bonny, a watchmaker * 14 April 1938: ownership passed to Crédit Foncier Vaudois * 3 July 1939: Wilhelm Imperatori, an industrialist * 28 May 1940: on the death of Wilhelm Imperatori, his widow Edit Imperatori inherited the property. During the Second World War, she opened the house to refugees. * 9 December 1946: purchased by Grafton Winthrop Minot, an American diplomat, and his wife Anne de Lancey. They named the house "Manoir de Ban". * 31 December 1952: purchased by

* 25 December 1977:

died and his wife Oona inherited the manor * 27 September 1991: Oona Chaplin died and her children inherited the manor. They later entrusted it to the Charlie Chaplin Museum Foundation. * 8 April 2008: Genii Capital, a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

-based capital investment company, purchased the manor from the Charlie Chaplin Museum Foundation to secure the future of the Charlie Chaplin museum project.

Charlie Chaplin's home from 1952

In September 1952,

was on his way to Europe to promote his film ''

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a non-electric type of stage lighting that was once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illum ...

'' when he learned that the USA had revoked his visa. The Chaplin family needed a new address in Europe and, on the advice of Charlie's half-brother

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, they visited

. The family moved in on 6 January 1953. Although they had bought the manor furnished, the Chaplin family and their architects Burnat and Nicati renovated the property and reorganised the interior. Chaplin's wife Oona was pregnant with their fifth child on their arrival in

, and the couple went on to have eight children in total.

lived at the manor for 25 years until his death in 1977. He spent his "happy years" there, walking in the grounds, playing with his children and hosting friends from the four corners of the globe, including

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

and

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics ...

. The artist also spent a large percentage of his time working. The screenplays for his films '' A King in New York'', '' A Countess from Hong Kong'' and ''The Freak'' (which was never filmed) were written at Manoir de Ban. He reworked the music for his films at the piano and wrote '' My Autobiography'', published in 1964. Sir Charles and his wife Lady Oona are buried in Corsier-sur-Vevey cemetery.

Description

The Manor

The manor is a rectangular building with two side annexes with roof terraces. The facades are richly decorated for the period: the front door is flanked by fluted

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

and the windows are outlined with fillets and rest on moulded sills on consoles. The window frames are topped with

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

s or

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

s. Under the hipped slate roof, the eaves are adorned with

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...

s. On the ground floor, a

peristyle In ancient Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture, a peristyle (; ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. ''Tetrastoön'' () is a rare ...

runs right across the back of the manor and extends onto the sides, towards the annexes. This Colonial-style gallery offers fabulous views of the park, the lake and the mountains. After renovations carried out for the Chaplin family in 1952, the manor comprised nineteen rooms on three levels (the second attic floor was converted in 1977) providing 1,150m² of living space. In the basement lie the cellars inherited from the building's wine-making past. Chaplin had this area converted into constant-humidity archives to house his original works. The manor was richly decorated, including marble mosaics or solid-wood parquet on the floors and carvings on the walls. The property was furnished when

bought it. Some of the furniture, purchased by Anne de Lancey, the previous owner, originated from one of the

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

Châteaux in France. The Chaplin family also had their own furniture transported from California.

Outbuildings

The property includes a farm which pre-dates the manor. It was altered several times, and under the Chaplin family served as staff accommodation, stables, a barn and a store. Another building, a garage dating from 1900 and renovated around 1980, had space for three vehicles plus staff accommodation on the upper floor. The Chaplin family employed up to thirteen staff: a secretary, nursery nurses, governesses, cooks, gardeners and chauffeurs.

Grounds

The Champ de Ban estate is one of the largest and most attractive parks in the canton of Vaud. It covers almost 14 hectares, sloping gently down to the banks of the Veveyse and the Nant stream. Charles Emile Henri de Scherer employed Edmond Davall, a forestry engineer, to carry out initial landscaping in the park in 1840–50. He appears to have introduced numerous exotic trees with a view to them becoming acclimatised. The estate includes: * a 6.1-hectare park with natural lawns and clusters of well-established trees including

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

es,

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

s, elms,

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

s, sequoia and cedars. * an orchard bordering the farm, a greenhouse dating from 1965 adjacent to a garage and a kitchen garden which

enjoyed tending, a courtyard, a fountain, a swimming pool and a tennis court. * a 7.5-hectare terraced forest of mainly

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

trees. The wooded area in the south of the estate was formerly a

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

Chaplin's World museum

Chaplin's World opened on 17 April 2016 at the Ban estate. The tour begins in the manor with the story of

's personal and family life before moving on to a new building, dedicated to his public life and career. In total, the museum incorporates over 4,000m² of exhibition space. It is operated by Grévin, a subsidiary of Compagnie des Alpes. It also includes a venue for temporary exhibitions and private functions, catering facilities and a souvenir shop. The museum's developers worked to restore the manor and grounds to their former glory while preserving the authentic traces of Chaplin's personal life. Chaplin Museum Development initiated the museum project in 2000. The project became possible when the Luxembourgish company Genii Capital purchased the manor in April 2008, and thanks to the support of the Chaplin family, Roy Export and Bubbles Incorporated (which holds the rights to

's intellectual property and heritage), canton of

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

and ten local municipalities, and

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

, a partner in the development of the museum.

Key dates

* 1840: The manor is built * 1952:

moves into the manor * 1977: Death of

* 2000: Chaplin Museum Development begins the museum project * 2008:

company Genii Capital purchases the manor * 2013: Construction work on the Charlie Chaplin museum begins * 2014: An agreement is reached with Compagnie des Alpes/Grévin to operate the museum * 2016: Chaplin's World opens on the 17 April

Outdoor area

File:Manoir de Ban - Corsier-sur-Vevey 02.jpg, Manoir de Ban Manoir de Ban - Corsier-sur-Vevey 01.jpg, Manoir de Ban, view from northeast Chaplin’s World - Corsier-sur-Vevey 02.jpg, Entrance area of the new museum building

Interior

Manoir de Ban - Corsier-sur-Vevey 07.jpg, Charlie Chaplin's bed Manoir de Ban - Corsier-sur-Vevey 05.jpg, Grand piano in the living room Manoir de Ban - Corsier-sur-Vevey 06.jpg, Dining room

References

External links

*
Chaplin's World museum website

Notrehistoire.ch: photos of Manoir de Ban
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manoir de Ban Villas in Switzerland Museums in the canton of Vaud Biographical museums in Switzerland Charlie Chaplin Historic house museums in Switzerland Houses completed in 1840 Buildings and structures in the canton of Vaud Neoclassical architecture in Switzerland 19th-century architecture in Switzerland