La Maison Picassiette is the extraordinary result of one man's work between 1938 and 1964. The monument he left behind is a house and garden covered with intricate mosaics of broken crockery, painting and sculpture. Much has been written to try to explain why Raymonde Isidore, a middle-aged manual worker, produced such a beautiful, complicated, inspirational and mystifying environment from the house he had built for his family. Perhaps what is amazing is not just that he chose to devote himself to his project, but that he achieved so much. The scale and richness is awe-inspiring.
La Maison Picassiette is set back from a modern urban street not far from the centre of Chartres (about 80 kilometres - 50 miles - southwest of Paris). You reach it by walking down a narrow footpath. A small ticket booth and traditional French toilets have been added outside the front courtyard of the house. 30,000 visitors a year come to this place of wonder. The house is very modest in size, and is long and thin in shape, matching the dimensions of the plot it stands on. The doors and windows are all on the right hand side, facing south. The tour below will take you on a circuit of the house and gardens in an anti-clockwise direction.
 the house wall |
 the chapel (1) |
 the chapel (2) |
 the black courtyard |
 the wall of Jerusalem |
 animals |
 paintings |
 |
the joy of shards Mosaics Resource