ABOUT US

Chalet  BEL HORIZON  Grindelwald

UNESCO World Heritage Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch

The beginnings of Chalet Bel Horizon


In the 1950s and 1960s Margrit Hayoz-Gubser (1919-1980) and Henri Hayoz (1908-1993) spent many holidays with their four children in Grindelwald. In 1970 their dream of their own chalet became true. At that time Grindelwald didn’t have a zoning plan, and they bought a piece of land in the middle of green meadows, which was only accessible on foot. There they built a chalet with two apartments. A temporary transport cablecar was necessary for transporting the building material. Impressed by the splendid view on green pastures, jagged rocks, and impressive glaciers, Margrit and Henri Hayoz named their chalet „Bel Horizon“. Today the chalet is in the agricultural zone, which means that no new houses can be built around it.


For almost fifty years the chalet Bel Horizon has brought us a great deal of joy and pleasure. We have spent there uncounted happy days with our friends and family. Since 2011 we, Ruth Kaufmann-Hayoz and Franz Kaufmann, have been the owners of Bel Horizon. We consider it important that the chalet doesn’t stay empty for long times and we aim at enabling many guests to spend relaxing and exciting holidays in Bel Horizon.


Take a look at the pictures on the bottom of this page. On the left side is a photo of the lower part of the „Oberer Grindelwaldgletscher“ taken in 1970, at the time when Bel Horizon was built. On the right side is a photo taken in 2018. The lower part of the glacier has completely melted away in the past 20 years, an effect of global warming. The landscape around Grindelwald is shaped by the seasons, the climate, and geology. The seasons bring us the magnificent flower meadows in summer and the snow in winter. Global warming contributes to the diminishing of glaciers, while erosions and landslides are mainly due to the geological circumstances. Large parts of Grindelwald are very slowly sliding down. You can observe this around Bel Horizon. While the house itself is firmly anchored on rocks, a slow sliding of the land on its sides and in front of it has been noticed over the decades.


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