Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret designed the villa between 1923 and 1924 for Le Corbusier's parents. It was designed for two elderly people without servants, and they moved in on Christmas Eve 1924. The article treats it as an early example of minimalist living.
The house measures 13 by 52 feet (4 by 16 meters), with 690 square feet (64 square meters) of floor area. It uses three of Le Corbusier's Five Points of Architecture: the free plan, the roof terrace and the ribbon window. The ribbon window is 36 feet (11 meters) long, and it looks out over Lake Geneva.
The Fondation Le Corbusier bought the villa in 1971, and it first opened to the public in 1984. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016.
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