A chalet also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, native to the Alpine

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

 region, made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof with wide, well-supported eaves set at right angles to the front of the house.

Definition and origin

The term chalet stems from Arpitan speaking part of Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and Savoy

Savoy

Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....

 and originally referred to the hut of a herder

Herder

A herder is a worker who lives a possibly semi-nomadic life, caring for various domestic animals, in places where these animals wander pasture lands....

. It derives from the medieval Latin calittum, which might come from an Indo-European root cala that means shelter.

Many chalets in the European Alps were originally used as seasonal farms for dairy cattle which would be brought up from the lowland pastures during the summer months. The herders would live in the chalet and make butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

 and cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

 in order to preserve the milk produced. These products would then be taken, with the cattle, back to the low valleys before the onset of the alpine winter. The chalets would remain locked and unused during the winter months. Around many chalets there are small windowless huts called mazots which were used to lock away valuable items for this period.

Modern international usage

With the emergence of the Alpine travel business, chalets were transformed into vacation houses used by ski and hiking enthusiasts. Over the years the term chalet transformed to its modern general meaning of a vacation house built in an Alpine style. In Quebec French

Quebec French

Quebec French , or Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language in Canada, in its formal and informal registers. Quebec French is used in everyday communication, as well as in education, the media, and government....

, any summer or vacation dwelling, especially near a ski hill, is called a chalet whether or not it is built in the style of a Swiss chalet.

Nowadays, in North America and elsewhere in the world, the use of the word, chalet, can refer to more than just a mountain location. The term chalet is even used to describe resort like homes or residential properties located by the beach. For example, in Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 a chalet usually refers to vacation homes at one of the six Lebanese ski resorts

Skiing in Lebanon

Skiing in Lebanon has been a popular sport since an engineering student returning from studying in Switzerland brought back with him the sport of skiing to Lebanon in the early twentieth century.-Overview:...

, but the term can also refer to a beach cabin at seaside resorts. In North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n ski areas, the word Chalet is also used to describe buildings that house cafeterias and other services provided to the tourist, even though may not resemble a traditional Alpine chalet.

See also

• Villa
  Villa
  A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
  
  
• Cottage
  Cottage
  __toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
  
  
• Bungalow
  Bungalow
  A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
  
  
• American Craftsman
  American Craftsman
  The American Craftsman Style, or the American Arts and Crafts Movement, is an American domestic architectural, interior design, landscape design, applied arts, and decorative arts style and lifestyle philosophy that began in the last years of the 19th century. As a comprehensive design and art...
  
  
• Mar del Plata style
  Mar del Plata style
  The Mar del Plata style is a domestic architectural style very popular during the decades between 1935 and 1950 mainly in the Argentine resort city of Mar del Plata, but extended to other coastal towns like Miramar and Necochea.-Origins:...