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Dwight Peck's
nostalgia gallery
Chalet
Pollux in the old days
Here are some
poignant pix of Chalet Pollux in Leysin, Switzerland, during and after its
first, and just before its second major face-lift.
Here's
Chalet Pollux in Leysin, Switzerland, in 1992 -- a short way out on
the Leysin American School road at the southern edge of town, across from
the Solacyre skilift. Built early on as one of two identical, cheap vacation
houses (the other, of course, was Chalet Castor [left], named after the Gemini
twins), Pollux was the home of many of the great Leysin mountain climbers,
even in the then-unfinished basement.
When
gobbled off the market by Mr Peck and Ms Wilson in the mid-1980s, Chalet Pollux
did not look like this. In fact, it required a big face-lift!
Small,
but elegant. Sadly, this is a photo taken in 1992 to be posted in the
office of the real estate agent in order to sell it, displaying neatly its
new roof, supplied by Leysin's Werner Standke, the nice stairs down the side
of the building supplied by Mr Peck himself, and the shiny resurfacing of
the wood, also supplied by Mr Peck, and just in time, too, since about an
inch of outer surface had rotted to powder since the last maintenance on the
house.
Three
tiny bedrooms up under the eaves, and a livingroom, small kitchen, and bath
on the main floor, with a detached studio in the basement, home first of ACS
Prof. Erik Knudsen and later home of our favorite neighbor/hiking partner
Carmen.
But
this is not how we found Chalet Pollux in 1985. In 1985, Chalet Pollux was
a Fixer-Upper!
For example,
a new terrace on the side -- the photo on the left shows the Grade 3 dirt being
freighted in laboriously to lay a base for the Grade 2, and then finally the
Grade 1 dirt to make a nice new lawn. The photo on the right shows what's under
the Grade 3 dirt -- yes, that's the old roof. All
smashed up. Those delicate expensive little rooftiles were smashing themselves
up there on the roof anyway, many of them having to be replaced every year,
so now they've found a more permanent home under the Grade 3 dirt. Just as we
all will, one day.
Nice
new terrace, before the vines have grown in the planters but with some good
grass growth on the shards of former roof. Taken in 1988.
And,
as Marlowe (in 1988) points out, no more old bathroom. No new bathroom yet
either, but that's coming soon and there's a bucket in the corner.
And
a thorough facelift on the outside, crumbly old walls rotting away to palimpsests.
A good sanding down and then two coats of stain, and some artful renovation
of the window shutters as well. Many homeowners will understand the temporary
but very strong attractions of the home improvement addiction, and one hopes
that they too will get over it eventually.
Mr Peck
pauses in his labors to reflect upon where this is all going. But he didn't
guess the worst.
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A little
more sanding, a little more staining, a pleasant feeling, toiling away at
fortifying the family nest, so to speak . . . |
With
suitable refreshment from time to time, of course.
Work
work work. Walls back up after a thorough reinsulating behind the paneling.
After
an ACS "crisis meeting", with Marlowe, Michele, and Allan Rankin
Back
to 1992, small house for a family but too big for one person, so regrettably
bye-bye. The successor family, very nice people from Fribourg, bankers or
something, took the cozy house firmly in hand and tripled its size with add-ons
and big arches and new facilities for the in-laws and a car-port at the top
of the hill, and it really doesn't look the same anymore. But we hope they're
happy there.
And
in its heyday, Chalet Pollux was a fine place to live -- in fact, off to the
right there, one can see the bottom station of the Solacyre ski-lift. How
convenient, to live at the foot of a ski-lift! (Alas, the Solacyre lift has
since been closed down, indirectly due to global warming.)
From
Chalet Pollux, Marlowe departed in late 1991 for her mother's house in Vufflens-la-Ville,
and Mr Peck himself moved to Gimel at the end of 1992. To where? To
Gimel.
 Feedback
and suggestions are welcome if positive, resented if negative,  .
All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 13 March 2002, revised 7 June 2008.
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