During his long career through the Mid-Century, the Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto designed many houses: in Finland as abroad. The most famous one is probably the Maison Carre' in France, close to Paris.
The Maison Carre' was the result of the encounter of the gallerist and art collector Louis Carre' with Alvar Aalto. The house commissioned in 1956 was ready in 1959. Carre' had very specific ideas about his house, as he said: "I wanted a roof, I don't know why, but I absolutely wanted a roof...I had several minor requirements" like "a room surrounded by books (...) Above all I had told Aalto: I want a house where I can work (...) and built with materials that have lived". Aalto realized his wishes.
The main entrance hall has a free-form vaulted ceiling which draws the visitor to the living room. The transverse living room forms the final point of the diagonal view that starts from the entrance, its heart is the fireplace situated in front of a panoramic window.
Another space for which Carre' had specific requirements was the library. A room were he could work and study: a cozy, almost hidden, space. The master bedrooms and a guest house were on the ground floor, each of them with a private bathroom and sauna, while the second floor was reserved for the house-workers.
Aalto always cared about the lightning. For the Maison Carre' he designed customized lamps that replaced the daily light coming from the large windows during the night.
Everything in the house was designed by Aalto or his staff's members -including his wife Elissa who designed many of the textiles- from the swimming pool to the door handles. The furniture are made of different kinds of wood -teak, pine, beech etc.- with and high attention to details: the chairs were covered with leather as the bronze door handles.
Since 1996 the Maison Carre' is an historic monument -owned by the Alvar Aalto en France association- and open for visiting.
The Maison Carre' was the result of the encounter of the gallerist and art collector Louis Carre' with Alvar Aalto. The house commissioned in 1956 was ready in 1959. Carre' had very specific ideas about his house, as he said: "I wanted a roof, I don't know why, but I absolutely wanted a roof...I had several minor requirements" like "a room surrounded by books (...) Above all I had told Aalto: I want a house where I can work (...) and built with materials that have lived". Aalto realized his wishes.
The main entrance hall has a free-form vaulted ceiling which draws the visitor to the living room. The transverse living room forms the final point of the diagonal view that starts from the entrance, its heart is the fireplace situated in front of a panoramic window.
Another space for which Carre' had specific requirements was the library. A room were he could work and study: a cozy, almost hidden, space. The master bedrooms and a guest house were on the ground floor, each of them with a private bathroom and sauna, while the second floor was reserved for the house-workers.
Aalto always cared about the lightning. For the Maison Carre' he designed customized lamps that replaced the daily light coming from the large windows during the night.
Everything in the house was designed by Aalto or his staff's members -including his wife Elissa who designed many of the textiles- from the swimming pool to the door handles. The furniture are made of different kinds of wood -teak, pine, beech etc.- with and high attention to details: the chairs were covered with leather as the bronze door handles.
Since 1996 the Maison Carre' is an historic monument -owned by the Alvar Aalto en France association- and open for visiting.
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The Maison Carre is an amazing example of mid century modern architecture, check the best mid century modern homes ever on the Mid Century Home blog.
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