Charlie Chaplin museum to open in Switzerland

The Swiss mansion near Corsier-sur-Vevey by the shores of Lake Geneva is set to become the first museum dedicated to the famous actor and filmmaker.

The new home in Switzerland was chosen over sites in Los Angeles and London, as it was Chaplin's last home before his death in 1977. His son Michael, who was living there together with his brother Eugene and their families for more than 10 years, told Entertainment Daily his father "was very happy here because he had a family life". He added:

All the time we were here we had people coming to the door asking if they could walk around. Sometimes whole buses would come and we’d open up the gate to let them walk around the park. That put the seed of the idea in our minds that when we left it should become a museum.

The opening of the museum is planned for 2011. The Guardian reports that it will feature footage from Chaplin's movies, holographic narrators, objects from his life and props from his films. According to the Entertainment Daily, a $50-million project is opposed by neighbours, but the chocolate company Nestle helped Michael Chaplin get the plan accepted.