Villa Stein, Modernist concrete villa in Vaucresson, France

Villa Stein is a modernist concrete residence in Vaucresson that unfolds across multiple levels connected by carefully positioned staircases. The facades display rows of horizontal windows and white surfaces, while interior spaces remain open and allow light to flow through the structure.

Le Corbusier designed Villa Stein between 1926 and 1928 for Gabrielle Colaco-Osorio de Monzie and Sarah Stein, sister-in-law of the writer Gertrude Stein. It was the most expensive house he drew between the wars, and outside the bedrooms all rooms were shared by the two families. In the late 1960s it was divided into five apartments, and it was classified as a monument historique on 30 March 2017.

The villa's nickname, les Terrasses, comes from Le Corbusier himself, after its stepped terraces. The interior was laid out to hold the modern art collection of Michael and Sarah Stein, with niches and cleared wall panels where paintings hung. Outside the bedrooms, all rooms were shared by the two families who commissioned it, in a spirit of conviviality. Some exterior scenes of Édouard Molinaro's 1967 film Oscar, with Louis de Funès, were shot on the property.

The exterior can be viewed year-round and offers clear details from the outside. To see the interior, visitors need to arrange in advance since the building remains a private residence and is not freely open.

Le Corbusier nicknamed the house "les Terrasses" for its stepped outdoor terraces. Its roof-level panoramic platform was modelled on a ship's command bridge, part of the naval imagery he admired in ocean liners. Some exterior scenes of Édouard Molinaro's 1967 film Oscar, with Louis de Funès, were shot on the property.