Cinema legend Charlie Chaplin spent the last 25 years of his life in a manor house just outside the Swiss town of Vevey close to Geneva. Now, a hundred years after he signed his first film contract, work is in progress to turn the property into a museum dedicated to one of the greatest comedians of the 20th Century.

Charlie Caplin statue in Vevey, Switzerland

The beautiful landscape surrounding lake Leman in the French speaking area of Switzerland attracts millions of tourists every year. Perhaps not many visitors to the area know that here, in Vevey, screen legend Charlie Chaplin spent the last 25 years of his life. A statue and a couple of souvenir shops are the only clues to indicate this is Chaplin town.

The actor was born in 1889 in the London slums to an alcoholic father and mentally unstable actress mother. After a modest start in his native England as a music hall performer, Chaplin moved to the United States where he became one of the great stars of silent films.

He won his first film contract with the Keystone Film Company in September 1913. Soon his Little Tramp character captured audiences throughout the world. By 1918, he was being paid more than $1 million for eight two-reel comedies.

In January 1953, Chaplin and his fourth wife bought this neoclassical mansion surrounded by 14 acres of woodland where they spent Chaplin's last 25 years surrounded by their numerous offspring. Since 1991 members of the Chaplin clan have lived intermittently in the house until it was finally deserted in 2008.

Two years ago the family sold the manor to a private consortium who promised to turn the premises into a museum set to open its doors by 2015. Phillipe Meylan, the president of Chaplin Museum, said, "Here we have the family manor and we can see his life from his family's perspective. We are also truthful to the family story. But we will also build a studio by the park, where we will showcase the work of Charlie Chaplin. It will be a modern and highly interactive museum."

The museum will feature the very latest technology incorporated into its exhibitions. It's aiming to be open by summer 2015.

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