Houses without stairs or chalets of Bizillon

Their name comes from the cabaret called «chalet de Bizillon» which occupied the site previously.

The façade consists of a sequence of two geometric shapes: a circle and a hexagon. It thus presents a circular plane, punctuated by six prominent edges.

The facades and terraces of one of the two buildings, as well as its interior space with the courtyard, the helical access ramp, the facades and the glass roofs, were registered with the Historical Monuments by a decree of 21 February 1989.

We owe these two buildings to Auguste Bossu (born 3 July 1889 in Saint-Étienne, died 17 February 1946 in Saint-Étienne as well), a very innovative French architect of the first half of the 20th century who practised mainly in Saint-Étienne. In addition to the Houses without stairs, he was responsible for the Modern Building, 11 rue des Creuses in Saint-Étienne (1929) in which, to compensate for the increase in population at the end of the First World War, Auguste Bossu had proposed a type of low-cost building, with modern comforts, for people wishing to live in the city but not having the means to make a particular building. The building already featured modern comforts such as garbage disposal, elevator, central heating, which was a great first for the city of Saint-Étienne particularly taudified at the time!

Much of his work took shape in the «Société des Immeubles par Étages» which he founded with the architect François Clermont. This company proposed co-ownership as a solution to the housing crisis of the interwar period.

Bossu’s work is now unknown, especially since his greatest achievement does not represent more than forty dwellings.

"The house without stairs! The house of tomorrow. Why?

The staircase is a barbaric way to climb the floors. The steps impose on everyone the same step: children as well as the old, the sick as well as the healthy.

With our sloping gallery climb, everyone takes the step that suits them, long or short, fast or slow, as we do on the sidewalk.

Our gallery is on a gentle slope, it takes place around a beautiful courtyard garden."

quote from Auguste Bossu, in advertising documents of the time