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Chalet Güttinger
In the heart of the forest of Saint-Gatien, this private Swiss-inspired wooden chalet, surrounded by a balcony with an overhanging roof, was built around 1820 by Ulrich Güttinger, a leader of the Swiss Romantic school. The house offered Ulrich Güttinger the peace and quiet he so desired. The house was set in a green setting with rhododendrons and hydrangeas, and featured a wide variety of flowers, greenhouses, a hot-house, a vegetable garden and an orchard. Important horticultural festivals took place in this park established in the middle of the forest which was admired by all.
As a frequent visitor to the Salon de l'Arsenal, Ulrich Güttinger often received here the great literary and artistic figures of his time who liked to come here to recharge their batteries: Victor and Adèle Hugo, Alfred de Musset, Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve, Alexandre Dumas, Gustave Flaubert, Charles Baudelaire, Théophile Gautier, Frédéric Chopin... "I am writing to you from the Chalet de Guttlnguer, where I have been for two days and where I would like to see you. I am in the delight of the Chalet and its forest. It is now magnificent. All day long I look at the sea which is very close to us, as the onlooker looks at the flowing water. I am dazzled by all these splendors". Alfred de Musset, 1819.
Around 1950, the châlet sheltered some vacation camps. Today abandoned, the remains of the châlet are walled up.