Méribel, the chalet resort: from Charlotte Perriand to today’s luxury chalets

Timber, stone and pitched slate roofs: since the late 1940s, Méribel has followed a strict building code that makes it one of the few major Alpine resorts to have kept a genuine chalet architecture. Founded in the 1930s through a local project backed by British investors, the resort is also where designer Charlotte Perriand reinvented the Savoyard chalet. Today’s luxury chalets still speak the same language while opening up to the mountains. Five of them, offered by the agency Pointe de Sel, show how the style has evolved.

Contents:

• A Franco-British resort
• An unchanged building code since 1946
• Charlotte Perriand: the chalet reinvented
• The modern chalet, between tradition and comfort
• Five chalets to rent in Méribel

A Franco-British resort

In 1935, the council of Les Allues decided to create a ski resort above the hamlets of Mussillon and Morel. The project was entrusted to Parisian architect Paul Sirvin and engineer Jean de la Valdène, who in 1937 brought together a group of British investors, among them the Scotsman Peter Lindsay. In 1938, the Anschluss drove British skiers away from Austria, and together with Lindsay’s influence this helped make Méribel the British base in what would later become the 3 Valleys. That same year, the first ski lift was built above Les Allues. The name comes from a hamlet in the valley, though to English ears it has always sounded like “Merry Bell”. The war soon halted construction, which resumed in 1946, this time led by Peter Lindsay.

An unchanged building code since 1946

Lindsay hired architect Christian Durupt, working with André Detour. They followed the principles Paul Sirvin had set out before the war: blending into the landscape and using traditional materials. A set of building rules required timber and stone, pitched roofs covered in slate and chalets of limited height. By the 1960s, around forty chalets and twenty hotels were welcoming a mostly British and French clientele. The resort has grown considerably since, without ever abandoning this style.

Charlotte Perriand: the chalet reinvented

In 1939, Lindsay called on Charlotte Perriand, a former collaborator of Le Corbusier, to design the interiors of the first buildings. After the war, she built her own chalet there, which she called her refuge, on a plot of around 3,000 m² at 1,600 m altitude. From the outside, it blends into the landscape. Yet it plays on the contrast between thick stone walls and glazed panels that open up the façades, already exploring the idea of an interior open to the outdoors that she would later apply on a large scale at Les Arcs, from the late 1960s. In Méribel, the chalet is not a fixed model but a type of home that keeps being reinterpreted.

The modern chalet, between tradition and comfort

As the 3 Valleys moved upmarket, today’s Méribel chalets have kept the same vocabulary: weathered timber cladding, stone bases and open fireplaces. To this they add large picture windows facing the mountains, en-suite bedrooms, swimming pools and spa areas. Founded in 2021 by Elise Turcaud, the agency Pointe de Sel selects this type of property and builds tailor-made stays around them, with private chefs, transfers, ski lessons, childcare and activities.

Five chalets to rent in Méribel

Three of the five chalets in this selection are in Mussillon, one of the original hamlets of the 1935 project. The resort later expanded to La Chaudanne (Méribel Centre) and Mottaret, its high-altitude village.