Portrait photographique

This photograph dates from the very earliest days of Simenon’s arrival at the property: on December 19, 1963, the writer left Echandens for Épalinges, in the hills above Lausanne. This was at least his thirtieth home, in as many attempts to put down roots somewhere. But this time, he did not simply rent an apartment or a villa: he decided to build his own nest. A very large nest indeed.

“D. and I have just decided, suddenly, within a few hours, not only to leave Echandens, but to have a house built — an idea that had often tempted me during my life. […] A brand-new house, from top to bottom, made for us, designed for us, for our life and that of our children. I am very excited about it […].” (in Quand j’étais vieux). But the house, oversized and cold, nicknamed “the bunker,” left no lasting mark on him. “When I had my house in Épalinges built, I fell into the mistake of wanting panoramic views. The windows are enormous. […] It was a curiosity to show my visitors, but after a very few days, I no longer even looked at it. Likewise, on the large grounds, I wanted to plant English lawn at an exorbitant price. It was soft and pleasant underfoot. I could count on one hand the number of times in ten years that I walked on it (…). When only one of my children was left with me, the others having flown off one by one toward their own destinies, this great house at Épalinges, which I had nonetheless designed with much love, weighed heavily on me.” He finally left it in 1972 to move to his last address, avenue des Figuiers in Lausanne, where he died in 1989 at the age of eighty-six.

Original stamp of the press photographer Pierre Vauthey (Agence Gamma) on the verso.