Villa Stotzer

Albert Stotzer taught mechanics at the watchmaking school in La Chaux-de-Fonds and was the brother-in-law of Louis Fallet. In 1907 he asked Jeanneret for a house divided into two flats: he would live in one and let the other. Villa Jaquemet, built at the same time on a nearby plot, answered the same brief. The house was finished at the end of October 1908.

The young Jeanneret designed it together with René Chapallaz. Jeanneret drew a first scheme in Vienna in November 1907, and a clay model of it was made. Following the example of Villa Fallet, it was richly decorated; the client found it too expensive, and it was abandoned. Stotzer then asked Jeanneret to bring his approach closer to the nearby L'Eplattenier house. A simplified version followed, but its plans were mislaid; the third scheme is the one that was built.

The Stotzer family settled on the ground floor and let the upper floor; they lived in the house until the 1980s. Since 1983 the exteriors have been listed; the interior has been altered.

The house stands on a base, which shows on the outside as a stone wall housing the service rooms. Rendered in several colours, the façades are dotted with stones that recall the retaining wall, and wood and iron appear as well. The red-tiled roof has several slopes.

Originally the two flats, one on the ground floor and one upstairs, were identical, each with a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and three bedrooms. To the south, a terrace on the ground floor and a balcony upstairs extended the house outwards and gave each flat a view over La Chaux-de-Fonds; the attic was fitted out as well. The "style sapin" remained present, mainly in the joinery, but far less than at Villa Fallet. For the hall, Jeanneret designed a solid-wood wardrobe with a built-in divan.

Private house; its exteriors have been listed since 1983.