In 1879, Ferdinand Cheval was a postman in Hauterives. During a tour, a stone of singular shape catches his attention. The episode does not end with a simple memory: it becomes the starting point of a building that this man will build for thirty-three years.
Horse picks up stones as he moves, then transports them and assembles them. The postcards and illustrated magazines also feed his imagination. In his garden, the reliefs, the architectures and the animals take place within a set that does not correspond to an ordinary model of house. The Ideal Palace was completed in 1912.
The work was then recognized as a historical monument in 1969. This recognition does not erase its concrete origin: repeated journeys, transported materials and years of work. What seemed to be just a stone found at the edge of a path has thus ended up being a place to visit to see how far a construction can go, patiently pursued.
What we know
Completed in 1912; no personal conversation reconstructed.
To go to the source
References accessed October 11, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
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