Villa Le Sextant (House in Les Mathes)

Le Corbusier – Villa “Le Sextant”, Les Mathes, Paris, France, 1935

Located a few steps from the Gironde estuary, in the town of Mathes, the villa “The Sextant” is one of the four projects led by Le Corbusier in Poitou-Charentes. The house was built in 1935 according to the plans and instructions of the famous architect. It was one of the first villas in La Palmyre.
The client of the villa, Albin Peyron, a friend of Le Corbusier who had just completed in Paris, the city of refuge of the Salvation Army, of which Peyron was the owner. In this project too, Le Corbusier received the assistance of his cousin and collaborator Pierre Jeanneret.
Peyron wanted to build a holiday home near Royan for his daughter. Le Corbusier apparently never made it to the site, due to the severe budgetary constraints on the project. Working from photographs provided by Peyron, he simply sent his plans and instructions to the contractors, chosen from among the local craftsmen.

According to the “free plan” principle, the facades are designed to maximally illuminate the rooms, in particular those facing west and towards the sea are glazed and free from any structural constraints.
The rooms are grouped on the west and north sides of the building. The east side is largely occupied by a terrace-balcony. 
The villa is divided into two levels, on each level, the rooms, of which Le Corbusier designed much of the furniture, do not communicate with each other but open onto the balcony-terrace.