Built at the end of the 19th century, Villa Viatte, an emblematic work by the architect Maurice Vallat (1860 – 1910), opens with character and refinement the rue Auguste-Cuenin, a district of Art Nouveau style villas, located not far from the historic center of the town of Porrentruy.
The residence features remarkable architectural elements. Its turret lends prestige and grandeur to the place. However, in keeping with the codes of the Belle Époque, the decorative richness of the red brick facades, its exposed timber frame, its soft-hued ceramics, and its fabulous stained-glass windows reflect an intention of elegance and attention to detail.
The house offers generous volumes, enhanced by beautiful high ceilings, some with moldings, others richly decorated with stucco. The interior layout has preserved the old elements that give it all its charm: herringbone parquet floors, cement tiles, carved woodwork, a Louis XV-style marble fireplace, and signed stained-glass windows, including a monumental one overlooking the central staircase that connects to the upper floor. The property has four levels, including the attic, but also a half-level with its own separate entrance.
Upper ground floor
Main entrance with its turret open on its lower part fitted with two openings with door and gate in richly worked wrought iron, an entrance hall decorated with stucco coffered ceilings, Hungarian point parquet, sculpted basements, stained glass window signed Kuhn Basel, its original grandiose chandelier, brass and blown glass, the wallpapers are period.
A dining room renovated between 1997 and 2001 and a corbelled room, sumptuously decorated with stained glass windows, preserved parquet floors, plaster ceiling and painted wood, French room with passage to the lounges, reception and garden.
The living room features its original furnishings, including black furniture and small Napoleon III-style toad armchairs, a sofa and a pedestal table, a gold-leaf mirror, draperies, and wallpaper. The Louis XV marble fireplace with cast iron hearth is no longer in use for safety reasons, but its state of preservation is remarkable. The interior glass doors leading to the hall and dining room reveal their glass panes as well as their original screws and handles.
A second dining room decorated with wood paneling, stucco ceiling, period parquet flooring, a fitted kitchen, rather recent, a bathroom and its washbasin complete this floor.
The property has a service staircase that serves all levels as well as the former medical office of its first occupant, Doctor Germain Viatte. This is composed of a large room and two smaller ones, allowing for discreet receptions through a separate entrance and exit.
The first floor consists of a first bedroom, a second very spacious bedroom with a balcony, a room that can be used as a dressing room and a third bedroom with its small office in the turret. All rooms are interconnected and open onto the gallery overlooking the central staircase. This space also has a storage room, a bathroom equipped with a corner bathtub, a shower and a toilet as well as a double sink unit.
The second floor, accessible by the service staircase, is as follows:
A storage room, a small kitchen, a shower room, sink and toilet, a first bedroom, a second bedroom of good dimensions equipped with a wood stove, balcony facing west, a third bedroom, a storage room as well as an attic and its small passage in the turret.
The property has a terrace on the first floor overlooking the rooms of the former medical practice, covered by a large glass roof completely renovated in 2003.
The basement is composed of a distribution space, a technical room, a cellar with an exterior exit, a second cellar, the floors are terracotta for these three rooms.
A laundry room and a garage closed by a hinged metal door complete the basement.
The house is protected by a perimeter wall. The double-leaf gate is original, as are the ornamental barriers and the fence over the main entrance.
In the privacy of the park, you will discover an oratory or small chapel (Our Lady of Sighs), a place dedicated to Mary and developed in 1852 by the previous owner of the land. On a semi-octagonal plan, the facades reveal some of the arched windows in trompe-l'oeil. Some floral decorations bring charm and simplicity to the place. Inside, a small altar covered in simplified painting speaks to us of a bygone era. The oratory underwent a complete restoration between 2000 and 2001 (listed with the Fondation Pro Patria Suisse).
Beautiful species adorn the park, some oaks, a plane tree, a maple, hazel trees, elderberries as well as various ornamental trees, such as dogwoods and mock oranges.
Heating: 2016 water/water heat pump using geothermal energy from the water table. Recent electrical panel from 2016.
Some windows are double glazed, and others are double mechanical windows.
Monumental stained glass window renovated and insulated in 2001.
Controlled framework, roof with slate tiles redone in 1990-1991, replacement of small flat roofs in 1998.
Art Deco cast iron radiators.
The floor of the covered terrace was hydraulically and thermally insulated in 2003.
Property classified as a historic monument. Federal protection 1993, Cantonal protection 1990, RBC (Cultural Property Directory) significance.
ISOS mention.
