Grand Riom Palace in Villa Carisch

11 April 2019

The Hotel Waldhaus in Sils (Canton Graubünden) was built in 1908. The guests appreciated the view of Lake Sils, the Maloja pass, the mountains, and the valley. Many famous guests, including writers, movie stars, politicians, artists, and aristocrats, visited the hotel to be seen and to see others. It was the time of the booming Spa, health industry, and winter and summer tourism.

Many Grand Hotels can still be admired, serving the same function, or abandoned, with other destinations. They share the commonality that they were built in small villages with a few hundred inhabitants.

The failures and unrealised dreams are less well-known. The small village of Riom is showcased in Villa Carisch, presenting the dream of the Grand Riom Palace. The maquette shows the architecture of what could have been.

Charles Laurent Carisch (1882-1914), a grandson of Johannes Jacob Carisch (1820-1906), inherited the fortune his father, Charles Auguste Carisch (1851-1906), had amassed as the owner of restaurants in Paris.

Scuol, Tarasp, St. Moritz, Sils and Davos were similar villages at the beginning of the tourism boom.  Charles Laurent had the vision, the architect and the money, but then came the First World War.

He died as a French soldier in 1914, and with him died the dream of the Grand Riom Palace in Riom.

(Further information: www.origen.ch).