The Picassiette house by Raymond Isidore (September 8, 1900 – September 7, 1964) is situated in Chartres, France and is made up of earthenware and glass mosaics cast in cement. Not only the external walls which are covered in a plethora of colour and entirely covered by mosaics but the internal rooms, from floor to ceiling are adorned in stunning images and colours including some of the furniture, the paths around the small property and there are also free standing works in amidst the plantations
Raymond Isidore was known as Picassiette his nickname which means "freeloader".. He was a municipal employee of the city of Chartres for which he first worked as a road mender and then as a sweeper of the cemetery. Today it is possible to visit his and his wife Adrienne’s blue and floral mosaic tomb where they rest in the Saint-Chéron de Chartres cemetery.
Once his house was built, Picassiette had the idea of making frescoes to cover his property. He was totally devoted to the construction and decoration of his house and garden, and used scraps of ceramics and porcelain and plates that he obtained from public dumps.
Raymond Isidore experienced late media coverage: in the 1950s, when the press became interested in him but his end of life, in his space saturated with mosaics, is sad. His inspiration dried up, he became exhausted and experienced mental disorders. One stormy night, he fled his home through the fields, having fallen subject to a delirium about the end of the world. He was eventually found and taken home, but he died shortly after.
