History

In 1904, American Mary Wallace Shillito fell in awe of the magnificent panorama she discovered as she drove through the Avenières estate. As the last surviving member of a large family, her father, Gordon Shillito, refused her anything. So he bought the estate from her, giving her full power.

At 28, she became the wealthy heiress to an immense fortune, but found herself very much on her own following the loss of her father. With the estate in her hands, she doesn't let her sadness get the better of her. With the support of her dear friend, Marcelle Sénard, she set about developing Les Avenières.

Marie and Marcelle were exceptionally well-educated for their time. Lovers of the arts and literature, they shared common interests, such as esotericism. They shared a circle of feminist friends, scholars, artists and philosophers.

As they traveled the world together in an ambiguous friendship, the young women never forgot Les Avenières. Construction of the Château and the various buildings around it began in 1907, with Marcelle directing the work and Mary financing it.

The work began with the detour of the forest road. At Marcelle's request, architect Louis Guinot designed the Château in a Burgundian style. Shortly afterwards, architect Paul Morel joined the project, which he completed alone following Louis Guinot's death.

The buildings are designed in harmony with the neo-Gothic style of woodwork and Burgundian architecture.

During a conference on esoterism, Mary met Assan Farid Dina, whom she married in 1913. He dedicated himself to designing the Château gardens and built the Chapel in 1917, turning it into a "philosophical home." Assan Dina would become a key figure in the technological and tourism development of the Salève region.

After the end of the Great War, he financed an electrification program for the canton of Cruseilles and the provision of drinking water to several villages and hamlets. In 1918, he began redeveloping the old "moulins Jacquet" (Jacquet mills) at a site called "Les Chosals" on the Usses River, transforming them into hydroelectric power stations.

He envisioned constructing an astronomical and meteorological observatory on the Salève, which he planned to equip with the most powerful telescope ever designed. Although this project was never realized, Dina acquired the Vallot observatory in Chamonix in 1925.

Assan mysteriously died on June 24, 1928, while celebrating his fifteenth wedding anniversary aboard a ship in the Red Sea.

After her husband’s mysterious death, Mary met a pianist, Ernest Britt, and married him in 1930. He squandered her entire fortune, and the marriage ended in divorce after seven years.

Mary died in an accident in 1938, marking the beginning of the auctioning of the estate.

Mr. Guillermin, General Councilor of Savoie, purchased the estate. Six months later, he organized an auction of the furniture and artworks. He then sold the property to a new real estate company founded and presided over by Count François-Maurice de Sales. From 1939 to 1941, the estate welcomed families of varying wealth to its rest center. In 1942, the estate was rented to an organization affiliated with the Swiss Red Cross: "Swiss Aid for Children Victims of War," which sheltered Jewish children until 1945.

In 1949, the real estate company sold the property to the Oratorians of the Collège de Juilly. They planned to turn the estate into a top-tier educational institution, which later welcomed future prominent figures such as Jean-Jacques Debout, Claude Brasseur, and many others, until 1970. It was then that Mr. Duvernay purchased the estate.

Abandoned for 10 years by Mr. Duvernay, the Château was bought by Mr. Hausermann in 1981. He began its restoration but was ultimately unable to complete his ambitious and highly controversial urbanization plan. The challenges of the "Hausermann project" led to integration issues and additional costs. The Château was put up for sale in 1994.

Attracted by the challenge, Nicolas Odin and his family, from l'Abergement (3 km below the estate), embarked on the adventure of transforming the Château into a Hotel-Restaurant, while preserving and enhancing this exceptional site. Over the years, with the help of his wife Laurence Odin, numerous renovations have turned it into a prestigious establishment in the luxury tourism sector of Annecy.

Their children, Marius, Lucien, and Fantine, have also played a role. In 2021, the two eldest started an organic farming venture with great respect for the surrounding soil and natural resources, becoming the main vegetable suppliers for the Château’s restaurant, "Le M." Meanwhile, Fantine, who had always been immersed in the Château’s atmosphere and worked alongside her parents, officially joined the family business in 2022, aiming to continue the family legacy and share its values through the beauty of the place.