Description
This superb house, called Le Vallon, was built by architect Lucien Bechmann in the 1910s. Its architecture reveals a pronounced taste for wood and Neo-Norman architecture, well before the regionalist vogue of the interwar period.
Set in 5,746 m² of wooded grounds, this large family home offers 200 m² of living space on three levels. The first floor features an entrance hall with a beautiful wooden staircase leading to the first floor, a large through living room with fireplace, a dining room, a kitchen and a garage. The 1st floor features a master bedroom with bow window and bathroom, two bedrooms, a shower room and an independent part, with its own outside entrance, comprising a large bedroom with fireplace (nursery) and two convertible bedrooms with kitchenette and shower room. The garden level, which can be converted into a lounge and summer kitchen, opens onto a magnificent terrace.
The house is located in Jouy-en-Josas, a pretty commune in the Bièvres Valley. Just 15 km from Paris, it has preserved its identity and offers an excellent quality of life. The house is a 10-minute walk from the town center, with its shops, schools and transport links (bus, streetcar, SNCF, RER).
A rare testimony in France
Listed as a Monument Historique in 2009, this magnificent house is one of the few French examples of the Anglo-Saxon Arts and Crafts movement. It bears all the qualities of Bechmann’s masterly works. The architect paid particular attention to the villa’s interior and exterior design. The timber-framed facades, clad in red brick, are enlivened by numerous openings that bring rhythm and luminosity. The refinement of the woodwork is matched by the careful treatment of the door and window frames, which have been preserved in their original state.
Lucien Bechmann
Son of Georges Bechmann (1848-1927), chief engineer at the Ponts et Chaussées, Lucien Bechmann (1880-1968) entered the Ecole des Beaux-arts in Parus in 1898. He trained in Victor Laloux’s renowned studio, graduating in 1905.
Mainly active in Paris and the Paris region, Bechmann worked mainly for private clients, and by the 1910s had already completed a number of major projects in the capital: the Rothschild hospital (1909-1914), the Chasseloup-Laubat synagogue (1912) and the stations of today’s line 12, notably the access rotunda at Saint-Lazare station (1910).After the First World War, he worked with Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier and Léon Azéma on the master plan for the Cité Universitaire Internationale in Paris. He designed the pavilions for the Deutsch de la Meurthe foundation (1922-1925), the entrance pavilions (1932-1933) and the Victor-Lyon pavilion (1950). For thirty years, he remained the Cité’s consulting architect.
On his return from a study trip to the United States, he built one of his most critically acclaimed works in Paris, the Shell office building known as the Washington Plaza (1930). Drawing on his American training, he applied meticulous site planning, enabling him to shorten the construction period by a year while keeping costs down.
Throughout his career, he designed numerous houses, including the villas Mascart in Saint-Cloud (1908), Hirsch in Neuilly-sur-Seine (1911) and his own villa in Jouy-en-Josas (1910-1911). They bear witness to a certain filiation with the brick architecture of the late 19th century and Neo-Norman architecture.
Known for his picturesque regionalist facades, Bechmann acknowledges the influence of Norman medieval style in his work. However, his output shows a certain eclecticism, and his latest works, sometimes produced in collaboration with his son Roland, also show Art Deco influences.
The Yvelines, a suburb favored by the bourgeoisie for its proximity to the capital and its quality of life, was often a testing ground for architects of the Mouvement Moderne. The Villa Savoye in Poissy, built by Le Corbusier between 1928 and 1931, is considered an emblem of modern architecture. Here, Le Corbusier applied the five points of modern architecture (pilotis, roof terrace, free plan, free facade and entablature). The villa, a veritable manifesto of new architecture, was listed as a Monument Historique in 1964. The Château de Mézy, also known as Le Gibet, built by Robert Mallet-Stevens in Mézy-sur-Seine in 1923, and the Villa Bomsel, built by André Lurçat in Versailles in 1924, are further examples of the quality of Modern Movement architecture in the Yvelines.
