Contemporary house

Overlooking Lake Annecy and facing the mountains, this residence spans 277.30 m² on a non-buildable plot of 3,076 m². Spread over four levels, the home is composed of distinct, modular volumes -“duplex” units – that offer intimate retreats within a family home.

On the garden level, the entrance leads to a central room that distributes the entire floor. This level includes a fitted kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and a second entrance that connects to the first “duplex,” featuring a living room and a bedroom with a shower room upstairs. A pantry, laundry room, and closets complete this floor.

On the first floor, two more duplex units each contain two spaces for a living room and/or bedroom, a shower room, and storage. One of these duplexes has a balcony overlooking the lake. This level also features a suite with a bathroom, dressing room, and balcony, as well as a playroom, an adjacent library, and separate toilets.

The second floor includes two additional suites with shower rooms, a living area, a bathroom, and separate toilets. This floor also serves the upper levels of two of the three duplex units.

The top floor houses convertible attic space and an observation boudoir, extended by a small balcony with a breathtaking view of Menthon-Saint-Bernard Castle.

Adjacent to the house, an outbuilding includes a workshop and space for parking three cars.

This exceptional property is located in the village of Menthon-Saint-Bernard, between the mountains and the lake. Close to shops, amenities, and schools, the house benefits from a privileged location within a preserved natural environment.

Both winter and summer, its natural surroundings offer many advantages: the ski resorts of La Clusaz and Le Grand-Bornand are 30 minutes away by car, and numerous hikes start right from the house. Paragliding, sailing, cycling, and swimming are also among the nearby sports and leisure activities.

Annecy is a 20-minute drive away, Geneva Airport is 1 hour away, and Paris is accessible in 3 hours and 50 minutes from Annecy train station.

Perched on a cleared hilltop overlooking Lake Annecy, this south-facing home maximizes natural sunlight through a “Trombe wall,” a passive solar heating system developed by CNRS researcher Félix Trombe and architect Jacques Michel in the 1950s. This ingenious device captures and stores solar heat behind a glass panel, then redistributes it inside the house via a system of vents.

Beyond its thermal advantages, the iridescent aesthetic of this façade blends perfectly with the site and the dark wood cladding of the rest of the house. The design thus adopts and reinterprets the vocabulary of the chalet (ogival, almost baroque windows; steep double-pitched roof; measured openings; dark wood) while incorporating a sustainable and original technical process.

Inside, the living spaces are spacious and offer great flexibility in layout. In every corner of the house, like intimate alcoves, the “duplex” units frame views of nature and ensure each family member has their own independent and peaceful space.

This project has been featured in French and international specialized press. The CAUE of Eure paid tribute to its designer by selecting this house for its exhibition Les 100 jours de l’architecture.

A qualified architect (DPLG), Patrice Mottini graduated from UP 8 (now ENSA Paris-Belleville) in 1971. He joined the Atelier Candilis-Josic and Wood, where he worked before founding his own agency in 1972.

In parallel, as a professor of architecture, he taught at the National Schools of Architecture in Paris-la-Seine, Paris-Villemin, and Paris-Malaquais, as well as at the Nissim de Camondo School of Interior Architecture and Design. He was also a visiting professor at EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, and at the St LUC School of Architecture in Ghent, Belgium.

He served as a state architectural advisor in the departments of Manche, Ariège, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

In 2018, with a focus on eco-responsible construction and building rehabilitation, he offered training on raw earth construction techniques applied to sustainable architecture and ecological processes. Patrice Mottini’s work on architectural design processes and know-how has been the subject of numerous publications in specialized journals and scientific works.