‘The chalet is the first prefab house in history’

A chalet in Mürren. Keystone / Peter Schneider

The chalet first conquered the world – and then Switzerland. So why is it considered a quintessentially Swiss building?

Ask 100 Swiss people what they consider to be a traditional local house and many would say “a chalet”. Rustic and ornately decorated. A typical piece of Switzerland. Like chocolate, watches and banking secrecy.

On closer inspection, however, this is only partly true. This is demonstrated by an exhibitionExternal link, “Chalet – From Myth to Modern Architecture”, at the Glacier Garden in Lucerne. Since the opening of the complex in 1873, chalet-like buildings have formed an important part of the overall touristic staging of the Glacier Garden.

The ticket office of the Glacier Garden in Lucerne is part of the Alpine backdrop of the complex. zvg/Gletschergarten Luzern

Just a stone’s throw away, other chalets can be seen in the centre of the city. One is Chalet Elisabeth, built in 1869, a three-storey wooden building on a solid base, decorated with fretwork.

A touch of mountain idyll in the middle of urban areas? Art historian Stephan Steger dismisses this suggestion. “Typically, a chalet was built as a log construction,” he explains. “In 1869, however, this was already being interpreted pretty freely.”

Stephan Steger’s tour goes past Chalet Elisabeth, built in 1869. SRF/Nik Rigert

Steger works for canton Lucerne’s monument preservation office and invites people to discover chalets on neighbourhood tours.

Romantic idea

The origins of the chalet date back to the 18th century. It’s the materialisation of a place of longing, a piece of an ideal world, Steger says.

At that time, romantic poems raved about the beauty of the Swiss mountains and triggered a veritable boom, with travellers from all over Europe visiting the Swiss Alps. Back home, they rebuilt their houses.

“The chalet in Switzerland is a re-import”

Stephan Steger

“However, there’s no actual ‘proto-chalet’,” Steger says. Originally, the chalet was just a simple shelter on the alp. Later, farmhouses from the Bernese Oberland and Vaud served as models.

But it was always a timber construction ideally suited to serial production. “The chalet is the first prefab house in history,” he says. “You could realise your vision of a home in a relatively inexpensive way.”

Farmhouses served as models for today’s chalets – especially buildings from the Bernese Oberland and the Vaud region. zvg/Gletschergarten Luzern/Heinz Dahinden

World exhibitions

The idea of the chalet as a mass product was given a considerable boost by various world exhibitions.

“Around 1900, an entire Alpine scene was staged in Paris,” Steger says. Catalogues on site advertised mass-produced chalets, built mainly by large French companies. “But at the peak there were also 24 different chalet factories in Switzerland, which served not only the domestic market.”

The idea of chalet architecture was therefore first adopted abroad, interpreted and transferred to mass production. Only then did the chalet return to Switzerland.

“The chalet in Switzerland is a re-import,” Steger says. Around 1900, they also sprang up in Switzerland – and not just in the mountains. “Especially in the period before the First World War, the cities grew rapidly. Chalets became a welcome retreat.” Even in the centre of Lucerne.

“Chalet – From Myth to Modern Architecture” runs at the Glacier Garden in Lucerne until January 4, 2026.

Adapted from German by Thomas Stephens/sb