Here, the view is 360° over the Vercors chain, Mount Tabor, the Dévoluy massif and the Laffrey lakes. In Saint-Honoré (Isère), the hamlet of Chaud also dominates, at an altitude of 1,500 meters, the calm Matheysin plateau, known for its anthracite mines closed in 1997. But in the middle of this beauty, far from the agitation of the world, stands ” a spot “, describes the Isère street artist Julien Peruffo, known as Diseck. Traces of another past, the beginnings of a ski resort desired, from the beginning of the 1970s, by a mayor keen to compensate for the closure of these mines. A road was then drawn towards “Saint-Honoré 1500”, three ski lifts built, a developer chosen for the development of living spaces. In sight, 1,400 tourist beds.
But the journey towards white gold was short-lived. The real estate complex will never be completed, the developer having been convicted of embezzlement. Only two buildings are occupied today, another has an unfinished interior. The rest has been abandoned since the beginning, subject to the vagaries of the weather: the walls are holding up but the roof is collapsing piece by piece, the rain is running everywhere, a tree has even taken root in a corner. So graffiti artists took over the place. “This place is waste, but we are giving it colors, a culture”, says Diseck. From Grenoble, an hour’s drive, he often climbs up here. He takes his sleeping bag, his barbecue grill, his paint, and he graffitis, with the agreement of the new owner.
The ski lifts were stopped in 2005, because financially it was no longer possible for the municipality. Time has meant that the existence of a ski resort is today “no longer a debate”admits deputy mayor Ado Baldasso, even if, at the time, he had been ” sick “ sadness. “But here we are going in circles”regrets Dominique Guillot, mayor from 1995 to 2007. “It would cost more for the owner of the walls to rehabilitate or demolish than to leave the whole thing like that”, confirms Christophe Stagnetto, responsible for the maintenance of the buildings, occupied year-round for around sixty residents or occasionally with numerous Airbnb accommodations. In addition to graffiti artists, dance troupes have invaded the place, a trail has crossed it, architecture schools have held their summer seminars there and filming takes place from time to time. A Netflix series with Kad Merad, Anthracite (release 2024), was also partly filmed there.
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